Gwede Mantashe gazets amendments to electricity regulations

Mantashe said the amendments to the regulations clarify the regime applicable to municipalities when requesting Determinations under Section 34 of the Electricity Amendment Act.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has gazetted amendments to Electricity Regulations on New Generation Capacity to enable municipal power generation.

Published on Friday, the regulations give effect to President Cyril Ramaphosa's commitment during the State of the Nation Address that government will enable municipalities in good financial standing to develop their own power generation projects.

Mantashe said the amendments to the regulations clarify the regime applicable to municipalities when requesting Determinations under Section 34 of the Electricity Amendment Act.

"This will ensure an orderly development that is in line with the applicable Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). Furthermore, the amendments will ensure that Section 34 Determination requests are from municipalities that are in good financial standing with feasible project proposals," the Minister said.

The department has also put in place an internal standard operating procedure to ensure that the requests for Section 34 Determinations are attended to, in the shortest possible time.

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)