Eskom getting its way could see the price of electricity experiencing a “cumulative increase by 93% over an eight-year period”.

That’s according to a forecast released on Tuesday by Energy Partners which said the “electricity cost for the average South African household will increase from R13509 per annum to R15696 in one year’s time‚ R25206 in 5 years’ time and R30360 in 8 years’ time”.

This comes as the National Energy Regulator of SA is holding public hearings into Eskom application to cover a R22.8-billion adjustment for the 2013/2014 financial year.

Energy Partners’ Mila Loubser described this as “one of many exorbitant tariff increases forecasted until 2022 and onwards when electricity price increases are expected to match up with Consumer Price Index (CPI)”.

She said the “the historical impact on actual domestic tariffs for a typical consumer in residential areas will have increased from R0.14 per kWh in 1988 to R 2.18 per kWh in 2016” if Eskom’s latest increase is approved.

 Loubser said “the power situation in South Africa will only fully stabilise by 2022 when a reliable energy supply and standard increases can be expected to be established once more”.

She said her company’s “forecast was based on Eskom’s 2015 submission of an application for price increase of 25.3% as a selective reopener” of Nersa’s hearings.

 “This application was rejected in June 2015 due to significantly overstated costs and a lack of credible long-term planning and certainty. In light of this rejection‚ Eskom will have to borrow funds in order to close the funding gap of R200-billion up to 2018‚” she said.

“With a cumulative increase of 93% expected over the next eight years‚ no organisation or household can really afford not to monitor their energy usage‚ especially in light of the significant savings these initiatives can yield by using only the existing energy infrastructure‚” she added.