Public Hearing Bugoye

Electricity Regulatory Authority

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PUBLIC Forum IN RESPECT OF recently licenced project by ERa – Mpanga, Bugoye & Kilembe investments.

Location: Verina Gardens – Kasese Town

Date: Friday 18th April 2008

Scheduled Time: 10:00am

PROCEEDINGS:

OPENING

The Chairman of the Public Hearing was the Secretary /Legal Counsel of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) who called the meeting to order at 10.00 am.
The Public Forum was officially opened by the Ag, Chief Administration Officer (ACAO), Kasese District who welcomed everybody present to the District and noted that the District was endowed with resources whose development has to be undertaken mindfully not to degrade the environment for future generations. He was concerned that the electricity tariffs were high and hoped that with more electricity hydro generation – tariffs would come down.
The Secretary/Legal Counsel (Chairman for the day)- also welcomed everybody to the public Forum and highlighted the fact that although no Public Hearings had been held in respect of the three projects in questions due to lack of substantive issues prior to issuance of the licence; the ERA found it useful to hold a Public Forum involving the District Leadership, Project Affected People and the Project Developers to share information on the project progress and sensitize one another on the merits of the projects.

PRESENTATIONS:

The Secretary/Legal Counsel, on behalf of the Authority, presented a brief on ERA background, her Mandate and challenges to date.(see attached presentation)
The three project developers namely:-Africa EMS Mpanga Ltd for electricity generation at Mpanga, Tronder Power Ltd for electricity generation at Bugoye and Kilembe Investment Ltd for distribution to Kikorongo, Bwera, Mpondwe, Katerera, Ibanda and Bugoye towns gave brief Project briefs on progress of the projects to-date.(see project briefs attached)

PUBLIC REACTION AND COMMENTS

The Secretary / Legal Counsel received reactions, comments and queries from the public which raised the following issues regarding the three projects mentioned above:-

For purposes of protecting the consumers – the ACAO was concerned that tariffs should be uniform country wide even though they are investor –driven.
The ACAO requested if subsidies could be provided for institutions i.e. schools, hospitals, and street lighting?
Participants were keen to understand about the social responsibility commitment from the respective companies.
Participants were also keen to find out whether the environmental concerns regarding the project i.e. tree planting following destruction had been catered for.
The comparative costs of Tronder Power Ltd as compared to Africa EMS Mpanga Ltd Project seemed too high?
The Kilembe Investment team did not seem to be gender balanced from the introductions done about their management team.
Participants’ wanted to know the whereabouts of Eco-Power which did surveys for sites in Kasese.
The distribution of power sites on one side of the region / river in Kasese was of concern to participants.
What does the District benefit from investors within a District? Permits and Licence fees seem to be targeting Central Government. Any loyalties?
Is the natural resource of Geo-thermal being harnessed or at least investigated for development in Kasese?
Participants would like training programs on safety and quality of electricity usage in the District.

RERSPONSES TO PUBLIC REACTIONS

Participants were assured that ERA approves uniform, fair, and cost –reflective tariffs for consumers regardless of where projects are situated. However the present tariffs are already subsidized by Government and it’s not practical to have schools and hospitals and street lighting subsidized further. On the other hand the District was advised to take advantage of the recently passed Local Government Bill to tax residents so as to pay electricity bills for the services mentioned above.
Participants were assured that implementation of corporate social responsibility by project developers was not a must / or right but rather a gesture of good will that can best be implemented after discussions between District officials and the project developers. However the developers have pledged to undertake such projects depending on availability of funds and needs assessments.
With regards to taking care of all environmental concerns – ERA confirmed that a licence is only provided to the project developer following satisfactory completion of all required environmental studies and the approval by the governing body – NEMA.
On comparison of project costs – it was outlined that each project has different development undertakings, the terrain is different for each specific project, and hence no two projects can be compared with regards to costs. However a general review of the two project costs has been conducted and the end –user tariff that is of most concern is competitive.
Kilembe Investments defended their position of lack of the female gender on their team by citing that although the job competitions were open to the public during recruitment– the response from women was either nil or very low.
Participants were informed that Eco-Power had lost interest in the project and hence the entrance of new developers to take over the site.
With regards to the distribution of projects along one side of the river – the fears of participants were allayed that investors have to-date opted for those particular sites for development and would move to invest in the remaining sites which were also open for investment. However on the issue of Loyalties – the participants were informed that the District leadership would negotiate for this directly with the project developer since it’s in the Law. When discussions hit stalemate – ERA (the regulator) can come in as an arbitrator.
Geo-thermal exploration and investigations are currently being conducted by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and they are underway.
Participants were also commended for being keen on training on safety tips for Energy usage and they were urged to read the Publicationss issued out by ERA.

CLOSURE

The hearing was closed by the secretary – Natural resources who noted that:

The participants had benefited tremendously from the discussions, and thanked the ERA for the initiative.
Tariffs were still too high and this may need further re-visiting in future.