On 10 November 2017, the Minister of Energy gazetted a notice
("Licensing Exemption and Registration
Notice")1 which amended and substituted
Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006
("ERA"). Schedule 2 of the ERA confirms
which activities are exempt from requiring a license in terms of
section 7 of the ERA and which are required to be registered with
the National Energy Regulator of South Africa
("NERSA") in terms of section 9 of the
ERA. On 8 June 2018, the Minister published a draft notice2 ("the Draft
Notice") for public comment proposing certain
amendments to the Licensing Exemption and Registration Notice.
NERSA has published a consultation paper3 on the Draft Notice, since the
Draft Notice requires the concurrence of NERSA before it can be
promulgated by the Minister of Energy.
This consultation paper calls for comments from the public once again on the Draft Notice and which are to be submitted to NERSA by 24 May 2019. In the consultation paper, NERSA has directed the public's attention to specific aspects of the Draft Notice on which it would like comments. However, the public are still welcome to comment on the entire Draft Notice. The comments sought by NERSA include whether terms have been appropriately defined; whether mini-grids (which do not have a point of connection to the National grid) should be required to be registered or licensed; and whether resellers that are charging prices that are more than the approved tariffs should be regulated.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.