The Country’s Power Utility Firm has clarified that it has not tempered with any prepaid meter for electricity units to be depleting at a faster rate.
Zesco Public Relations Manager, Hazel Zulu told Money FM News in an interview that it is important to note that electricity tariffs were increased in January this year and no further upward adjustment has been made.
“Zesco is not tempering with the prepaid meters, there is nothing like that, people just need to manage and adjust their consumption levels. There is no hike in the price of electricity because whenever there is a hike, there is a process that is followed and clearly we all know that there is no such hike from the last increase that we had,” Ms. Zulu said.
She attributed the rapid depletion of units to the onset of the cold season when the demand for power is slightly more than any other season.
Ms. Zulu further said the current scenario where more people are working from home as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic is also a contributing factor, hence the need for consumers to manage their electricity consumption levels by using other sources of energy.
“If people are consuming more especially now that we are in the cold season, the possibility is that they are using more power. The demand for electricity is more than it was before,” she stated.
Ms. Zulu added that it is important for people to migrate and employ energy efficient interventions such as the use of energy saving bulbs, gas stoves in place of conventional cookers and switching off appliances that are not in use.
Ms. Zulu’s comment comes in the wake of complaints by several Zesco customers over the quick depletion of electricity units which they also say have become extremely expensive.