Deputy Minister of Energy, Mrs. Judith Kapinga said the cost of buying electricity in the country is low compared to other East African countries. This is due to the Government subsidizing the cost of buying electricity.
Mrs. Kapinga said this, in parliament in Dodoma when he was answering questions from MPs who wanted to know if the start of electricity production in the Julius Nyerere project (JNHPP) will reduce the cost of purchasing electricity and when the Government will lower the price of electricity.
“Speaker, the current price of electricity already has Government subsidies in it where currently the average price of 1 unit of electricity with subsidy is 100 shillings for normal use less than 75 units per month and without subsidy it becomes 292 shillings”, Mrs. Kapinga said
She added that, a citizen who uses more than 75 units per month, pays 292 shillings for 1 subsidized electricity unit instead of 320 shillings without subsidy.
In relation to the issue of reducing the price of electrical units, Mrs. Kapinga has said that the Government will continue to evaluate the costs of providing TANESCO services from time to time and continue to adjust the prices according to the costs of production, transportation and distribution of electricity.
Answering a question about the project to send electricity to the mining areas in Chunya, Mbeya region, Mrs. Kapinga has instructed the Director General of the Rural Energy Agency (REA) to ensure that they supervise the contractor to complete the project early.
Regarding the construction of Hanang power receiving and cooling station in Manyara region, She said that its construction will be implemented in the second phase of the solid grid project.
Regarding the transmission of grid electricity to the islands, Mrs. Kapinga has said that Tanzania has about 120 islands and the Government has begun to evaluate the delivery of grid electricity to those areas.
She added that currently the islands are using solar electricity where the Government has set a subsidy of 50 to 55 percent so that the people can get reliable electricity all the time.
