Proposed amendments to the Nuclear Regulator Act and the Electricity Regulation Act have been put forth, and opportunities for public participation are being advertised in the media.
The nuclear industry has only a small number of role-players, but any errors in this industry may have serious long-term consequences. Therefore, best practices are prescribed internationally with the aim of maintaining its advantages in the medical and energy fields, while also ensuring safety.
This proposed amendment bill reinforces the powers of the regulator, and the FF Plus supports it.
The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill also proposes essential amendments, but promises to be more controversial. The EFF and other leftist groups are strongly opposed to the freer energy market envisaged by it.
To understand the proposed amendments, one should keep in mind that the existing law presupposes a single countrywide monopoly in the generation and distribution of electricity. But that is no longer the case, though.
Worldwide, singular and enormous power plants are increasingly being replaced by smaller commercial and domestic plants.
Generation is being decentralised, and renewable energy is being generated in places that used very little power in the past. This creates challenges for distribution networks.
In South Africa, this shift is accompanied by the collapse of sound management at Eskom. The reality is that Eskom is losing its generation monopoly and legislation should take that into account.
Power needs to be synchronised and distributed from numerous smaller suppliers. Technical requirements and complicated relationships between energy producers and consumers should be mediated.
The result is dividing Eskom’s generation and distribution into separate state enterprises, as well as more comprehensive regulation enforced by the National Energy Regulator, NERSA.
In this case, literally thousands of role-players are affected in an industry with fast-developing technology. So, regulation needs to be flexible.
The FF Plus also supports this Bill. The role-players who work with power installations and trade on a daily basis will be the best judges of the particulars of the Bill.
These people are encouraged to examine the Amendment Bill and contribute to the public participation process. This is the stage at which legislation can be most easily improved.
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