On the 3rd of August ZESA announced some tariff changes across all its bands. For many, the adjustments were surprising but to those who keep a watchful eye on various aspects of the economy, the tariff hike was not totally unexpected. ZESA has already mentioned countless times that they need to charge a tariff of US$0.09 per kWh for them to be able to meet operational costs. Based on our system the previous tariffs were as follows on the 3rd of August before the change was announced.

Tariffs before 3 August

Consumption BandsPrice per Unit in ZWL$Est Price including 6% REA (ZWL$)Price in per Unit in USD (Estimated)
First 50 Units$7.57$8.02US$0.01
51-100$15.17$16.08US$0.02
101-200$26.58$28.17US$0.04
201-300$37.94$40.22US$0.05
301-400$43.60$46.22US$0.06
401 and above$45.51$48.24US$0.06

One thing to note is that our Zimpricecheck Insights System uses unofficial market-based rates when coming up with this ZWL to USD estimates. When the old tariffs shown above were introduced back in may the highest estimated tariff was around US$0.09 based on the unofficial rates at the time. This means that the tariff would have been around US$0.20 if one were to use the official rate at the time. Anyway, you notice something interesting if you go to our ZESA tariffs page at the time of writing this article.

Consumption BandsPrice per Unit in ZWL$Est Price including 6% REA (ZWL$)Price in per Unit in USD (Estimated)
First 50 Units$10.23$10.84US$0.01
51-100$20.48$21.71US$0.03
101-200$35.89$38.04US$0.05
201-300$51.22$54.29US$0.07
301-400$61.49$62.18US$0.09
401 and above$61.43$65.13US$0.09

NB

  • Once again after the latest tariff adjustments, the highest tariff is around US$0.09 using the current unofficial market rates
  • This is not concrete proof but one cannot help but come to the conclusion that ZESA just like most businesses out there is using black market rates in order to charge viable tariffs
  • Strangely the 400 kWh band is higher than the unsubsidized band. Why on earth that is the case is anyone’s guess. A mistake perhaps?
  • Interestingly both tariffs including REA add up to 9 US cents per kWh.

Confused by all this? You can use our free ZESA calculator that is always up to date.