The Electricity Control Board (ECB) has approved a 3.8% increase for NamPower’s bulk tariff for 2025-2026 as opposed to the 17.44% initially requested by the power utility.
ECB Chief Executive Officer Robert Kahimise said the ECB Board considered the impact on affordability of electricity that a higher increase would have had on consumers.
“The 3.8% increase will be supported with a financial support of N$283 million by the shareholder (Namibian Government), equivalent to 3.8%. This adjustment changes the average tariff from the current approved rate of N$1.9856 per kWh to N$ 2.0611 per kWh for the financial period 2025/2026,” said Kahimise.
The ECB Board of Directors met on 16 April and 12 May 2025, to deliberate on the NamPower bulk tariff application submitted on 17 February 2025, for the financial period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
The bulk tariff (generation & transmission) application is a process undertaken annually by NamPower, to justify their Revenue Requirement, which is the total amount of money it needs to collect from its customers annually to cover all its costs, including bulk purchases, operating and maintenance, staff salaries, overheads, customer service, asset related and return and depreciation.
As a regulator, the ECB exercises its mandate by reviewing the bulk tariff application for approval or revision before granting final approval, taking into consideration electricity affordability and security of supply, and stability and efficient functioning of the electricity industry.
As part of the bulk tariff review process, the ECB facilitated stakeholder consultation meetings where NamPower presented its tariff application to various stakeholders. These stakeholders included members of the public, ratepayers’ associations, business and employer federations and associations, agricultural unions, Independent Power Producers (IPPs), the Renewable Energy Industry Association of Namibia (REIAoN), Government Ministries and agencies, and electricity distributors. Stakeholders were invited to engage and interrogate NamPower’s application and to provide verbal and/or written comments and inputs for ECB’s consideration.
The ECB indeed considered the comments and inputs provided, in determining the final tariff.
“Based on the detailed analysis, NamPower’s revenue requirement was adjusted from N$8.8 billion to N$8.1 billion,” said Kahimise.
With the tariff increasing with 3.8%, below the current inflation rate of 4.2% (March 2025), it is expected that the approved tariff adjustment will have minimal impact on future inflation as well as on prices of goods and services.
The approved bulk electricity tariff will be applicable to NamPower bulk customers such as Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs), Local Authorities, Regional Councils and large industrial transmission customers (such as mines). All distribution licensees will individually apply to the ECB for a review of their distribution tariffs, which, when applied timely, will be applicable to end consumers effective from 1 July 2025.
In addition, all distribution utilities are urged to apply for their annual tariff reviews before the end of May 2025. Utilities that do not apply for tariff adjustments in time to coincide with the implementation of the bulk tariffs, which is effective 1 July 2025, will lose revenue because they will be selling electricity based on outdated tariffs while purchasing on new tariffs, especially pre-paid revenue that is collected through pre-paid sales.
“We wish to reiterate that this non-constructive practice by some distribution utilities is not financially sustainable, and it affects their financial ability to honour NamPower’s bills, and it further affects service delivery. This causes insecurity or instability in electricity supply to end consumers,” said Kahimise.
