09 Aug 2016

Parliament has passed two bills with some amendments consequential to enactment of the energy regulatory authority bill as presented by the Minister of Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources Mr Kitso Mokaila on Monday.

The two bills were Electricity Supply (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to make provision for the licensing and control of undertakings for the generation and supply of electricity and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. Some of the amendments in the bill included, among others, acquisition of land for electricity whose purposes shall be deemed to be of public purpose in accordance with the Acquisition of Property Act, land or rights over the land as the President may consider necessary for the purpose associated with generation or supply of electricity by a licensee.

Other notable amendments in the bill were licensing requirements as prescribed by the regulatory authority and breaking up of streets that included the right to place transmission lines across, along, under or over any street in accordance with the Act.

The other bill that Mr Mokaila presented was the Power Cooperation (Amendment) Bill, that amended the BPC Act.

Clause 3 of the bill amends section 18 of the Act to enable the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority to regulate tariffs and prices charged by the cooperation. This aligns the act with Part VIII of the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority.

The authority’s mandate was to provide an efficient regulatory framework for the energy sector with the primary mandate of providing the economic regulation of the sector with a view of protecting the interests of consumers and providing confidence to investors. Ends