According to Eskom, the typical suburban household is currently paying R990 per month for electricity. If we look at a suburban resident, with a take-home income of R20Â 000 per month, he is currently spending 5% of his disposable income on electricity.
A 35% annual price hike for each of the next three years, would see those average payments for electricity rising to R2436/month in the suburbs. If we assume that the resident in this example receives annual increases of 6% per annum over the next three years (using the upper band of our inflation targets), this person would earn R23Â 800/month by the 2012/2013 year. By then, the proportion of his income spent on electricity would rise to 10.2%. This implies an effective doubling of electricity costs in real terms and has serious implications for consumers.
| Average future monthly charges | 2009/2010 | 2010/2011 | 2011/2012 | 2012/2013 |
| Typical suburban household | R 990.00 | R 1,336.50 | R 1,804.28 | R 2,435.77 |
| % spent on electricity of a R20,000 p.m. net salary | 2009/2010 | 2010/2011 | 2011/2012 | 2012/2013 |
| 6% inflationary increase | 5.0% | 6.3% | 8.0% | 10.2% |
| 3% inflationary increase | 5.0% | 6.5% | 8.5% | 11.1% |
| % spent on electricity of a R15,000 p.m. net salary | 2009/2010 | 2010/2011 | 2011/2012 | 2012/2013 |
| 6% inflationary increase | 6.6% | 8.4% | 10.7% | 13.6% |
| 3% inflationary increase | 6.6% | 8.7% | 11.3% | 14.9% |
For consumers who have a net monthly income of R15Â 000, the situation is worse. In the suburbs, such a consumer would currently be paying an average of 6.6% of his salary on electricity. Assuming a 6% annual salary increase, this consumer's electricity costs would rise to almost 14% of his monthly net income.
