By CHUSA SICHONE –
THE Government has warned it will not be ‘blackmailed’ by mining companies that are still hesitating to pay for power under the revised tariffs.
Energy Minister David Mabumba disclosed yesterday that apart from Mopani Copper Mines  – which on Monday announced the suspension of operations at its mines in Mufulira and Kitwe as a result of the stand-off over power with suppliers, Zesco and CEC – Kansanshi and Kalumbila (both owned by First Quantum Mines) were the other miners resisting the new tariffs.

MABUMBA

Kalumbila and Kansanshi mines officials were expected to hold a meeting with Zesco yesterday afternoon to iron out their differences, on the day that Mopani obtained a court injunction restraining ZESCO and CEC from restricting power supply to the mining firm until the matter is fully determined by the court.
At a joint Press briefing with his Information and Broadcasting Services counterpart Kampamba Mulenga in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Mabumba said it was unfair for mining companies not to pay for power at the revised tariffs when domestic consumers were doing so.
He wondered why the three mining firms were still resisting paying for power at the revised rate of US Cents 9.3 per kilowatt hour at a time when copper prices had improved on the international market and Government had met most of their requests before adjusting the tariffs.
“I want to appeal to those mines that are not yet paying that they should go and engage CEC, they should go and engage Zesco so that they pay because there is no one person who’s going to be given special consideration. If our domestic customers are paying, why should they be subsidising industries? I think it would be very unfair,” the minister said.

overnment did not want the mines that were not paying for power under the new tariff to blackmail the State because it had been patient and tolerant as the increased mine tariffs should have taken effect in January this year.
Mr Mabumba said the mines should be considerate, given that for a long time, the Government was supplying power to domestic and commercial users at a subsidised rate of US5 cents per kilowatt hour and yet it was importing emergency power at 12.90 US Cents per kilowatt hour since 2015.
He said the Government discontinued providing subsidised power because the Treasury could no longer afford to do so.
The minister said the only way forward for the non-compliant mines was to dialogue with Zesco and CEC on the payment plan under the new tariff.
Mr Mabumba said in as much as the Government appreciated the investment by the mining firms, it had a country to run and thus did not want the power restrictions to the non-compliant firms to negatively affect Zambia’s economy.
Mr Mabumba also appealed to the mine unions or those at companies where power had been restricted to engage their employers and appeal to them to appreciate that Zesco needed money to invest in transmission, distribution and generation to produce the power they needed, and of which they consumed 50 per cent of the output.
He said Zesco had currently restricted power supply to Kalumbila Mine from 155 megawatts (MW) to 110MW, and Kansanshi Mine from 187MW to 153MW, while CEC had reduced power supply to Mopani Copper Mines from 130MW to 94MW.
Ms Mulenga said the electricity tariffs were adjusted to safeguard the security of supply in Zambia and ensure that Zesco had adequate revenue to continue purchasing electricity from the local Independent Power Producers and import from the region.
Zesco transmission director Webster Musonda said it was surprising that some mines were still adamant despite having been engaged before the new tariffs took effect in January this year.
Meanwhile, Mopani yesterday managed to obtain an interim injunction restraining ZESCO and CEC from restricting power supply to its operations until the matter was fully determined by the court.
Kitwe High Court Judge Timothy Katenekwa granted Mopani an injunction to stop the two utility companies from restricting power pending an inter-parte hearing. CEC and ZESCO are being cited as first and second defendants respectively.
According to a statement of claim filed in the Kitwe High Court obtained by Times in Kitwe, Mopani further wants the court to make a declaratory order that the attempt by CEC to obtain tariff increment outside the process that is clearly outlined in the Power Supply Agreement (PSA) is null, void and unlawful.
Further, Mopani is demanding that CEC pay damages for breach of contract arising from the manner they have attempted to obtain a tariff increment outside the process that is stipulated in the PSA entered into between the defendant and the plaintiff.
The claim further, contended that in March 2005, they entered into a PSA with CEC that subsequently underwent two amendments in 2008 and 2015 and that clause 3.3 of the power purchase agreement outlines the process that is supposed to be followed in effecting a tariff increment.