UMEME made its case to the public and ERA. Their customer base grew
to over 400,000 in the last 5 years. The distribution losses are down to
about 30% from about 40%. They also want to invest another US$35mil in
grid expansion to add more clients. they say generation and transmission
losses take 70% of all losses. HENCE we must pay more.
We are paying for the losses incurred in generation, transmission and distribution. It is so unfair for a company to make someone pay for inefficiencies on it's own part. UEGCL and UETCL should not charge us for power they never generated/supplied!
There was also the issue of tampered meters - the ones that run faster than the electricity consumed. How was that addressed? No one has ever come to my home to reduce the meter rotational speed.
In a twist in the tale the government is giving out free energy saver bulbs to increase energy efficiency in households. I hereby categorically state that I don't need another bulb from UMEME or government. I much rather the government AND UMEME and ESKOM and all those power producers reduced the losses and the already high tariff.
The blame game continues:
Paying for losses that I did not cause is cruel. It is theft at a whole new level. It is like passive smoking.
Giving us energy savers while the other players are heaping their sloppiness on us is an insult. Talk about giving a dog a bone!! To expect us to conserve the poor quality service should be viewed as a criminal offense.
The idea of expanding the grid to reach more customers is insane. You can't provide the ones you have with a decent service, why add to the number of your disgruntled customers?
Whether oil prices and dollar rates have gone up should be a negotiation between power companies and the government. Revising our power tariffs upward is a deliberate attempt to cripple the businesses and livelihoods of the average Ugandan. In response, charcoal and firewood use is bound to increase, to the detriment of our forests and environment. Soon we might as well hand them back the wires and meters and light fireplaces in our compounds. I am just may be heading for the tadooba, to yield to the regression that we are being forced into. But not yet... I will actually buy that expensive solar PV.
We've been hit by a smooth criminal
We are paying for the losses incurred in generation, transmission and distribution. It is so unfair for a company to make someone pay for inefficiencies on it's own part. UEGCL and UETCL should not charge us for power they never generated/supplied!
There was also the issue of tampered meters - the ones that run faster than the electricity consumed. How was that addressed? No one has ever come to my home to reduce the meter rotational speed.
In a twist in the tale the government is giving out free energy saver bulbs to increase energy efficiency in households. I hereby categorically state that I don't need another bulb from UMEME or government. I much rather the government AND UMEME and ESKOM and all those power producers reduced the losses and the already high tariff.
The blame game continues:
Blame
the oil prices. Blame the transmission and generation losses. Blame the
rising dollar rate, Blame the opposition who, allegedly sabotaged the
Bujagali power project... Blame it on something, anything.
Comments:
I
have no control on how power is generated at Jinja or Namanve for that
matter. whether we invest more in High Speed Diesel and Heavy Fuel Oil
Thermal Generators or build 10 new hydro power dams and a few nuclear
power plants is purely a government decision. and this holds true to
Uganda's scenarioPaying for losses that I did not cause is cruel. It is theft at a whole new level. It is like passive smoking.
Giving us energy savers while the other players are heaping their sloppiness on us is an insult. Talk about giving a dog a bone!! To expect us to conserve the poor quality service should be viewed as a criminal offense.
The idea of expanding the grid to reach more customers is insane. You can't provide the ones you have with a decent service, why add to the number of your disgruntled customers?
Whether oil prices and dollar rates have gone up should be a negotiation between power companies and the government. Revising our power tariffs upward is a deliberate attempt to cripple the businesses and livelihoods of the average Ugandan. In response, charcoal and firewood use is bound to increase, to the detriment of our forests and environment. Soon we might as well hand them back the wires and meters and light fireplaces in our compounds. I am just may be heading for the tadooba, to yield to the regression that we are being forced into. But not yet... I will actually buy that expensive solar PV.
We've been hit by a smooth criminal
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