The minister of state in-charge of finance Aston Kajara has told MPS on budget committee of parliament his office is in the process of negotiating with private companies to receive part payment as government waits on parliament to approve the balance.

Electricity Company UMEME LTD announced a 12 hour load shedding schedule after private suppliers Agreko, ElectroMax and Jecobson switched thermo power supply for non payments of arrears by the government.

The minister said thermal energy generating companies have agreed to resume generating power despite parliament declaiming for the 2nd time to approve the 92 billion shillings debt owed by government.

The firms had stopped generating power insisting that government should first clear the debt something forced the power distribution company UMEME LTD to announce a 24 hour load shedding.

Energy minister Irene Muloni says she discussed the matter with companies following a directive by parliament on Monday and the companies agreed to supply power out of good will.

Muloni however said the Agreko plant in Jinja is going to be decommissioned because water levels have increased to produce on extra 40 mega watts. She was reporting back to the joint committee on budget and natural resources before which the 92 billion shillings request was tabled.

By Mugisa Isaac Mathias

The post Government to pay private power distributors to end load shedding first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

According to ERA acting chief executive officer Benon Mutambi, this development was reached  after discovering that load shedding during day time affects the economy harshly than it does at night when majority people are sleeping.

Electric power connection

Mutambi attributed the crisis in the power sector to increase in fuel prices and the weakening Ugandan shilling against a dollar.

According to Mutambi, all contracts signed with thermo power generators are denominated in dollars for fear by investors to lose their money arising from the depreciating shilling.

Addressing a press conference in Kampala, Mutambi says since 2009, the shilling has depreciated by over 600 shillings from 1874 shillings to one US dollar, leading to an increase in the sector revenue requirement which he says has increased by 192 billion shillings in the past 18 months.

He said that despite those challenges, the power tariffs have not been adjusted upwards to absorb the effects of the falling shilling and high fuel costs.

Mutambi said that while in 2006 the sector required only 420 billion shillings, it shot up to 618 billion shillings in last year whereas this year (2011) it has soured to at 1.076 trillion shillings.

By Isaac Senabulya

The post Day time load shedding to end-Uganda Electricity Regulatory Authority first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.