An increase in your electricity bill during the current spate of load shedding might put a damper on your holiday spirits, but recent financial data show that municipalities paid 10% more for electricity than they did a year ago.

Stats SA’s latest release of the Quarterly financial statistics of municipalities report shows that municipalities spent R18,4 billion on  electricity purchases during the third quarter (July–September) of 2014, a 20,5% increase from the R15,3 billion spent in the previous quarter, but only a 10% increase from the R16,8 billion spent during the third quarter of 2013. The increase in the amount spent on electricity during the third quarter of 2014 can be attributed to increased/additional consumer demand during the winter months, as well as the recent decision by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to allow Eskom to raise its tariffs.

The largest contributors to current municipality expenditure for the third quarter were: electricity purchases (R18,4 billion or 28,1% of the total R65,6 billion); employee-related costs (R17,3 billion or 26,4%); other expenditure (R8,0 billion or 12,3%); general expenses (R5,0 billion or 7,6%), and depreciation (R3,5 billion or 5,4%).

Sales of electricity by municipalities during the third quarter amounted to R24,2 billion, an increase of R4,0 billion from the R20,2 billion recorded during the second quarter.

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