Analyzing and comparing the two energy sources - electricity and gas – what are the forecasts in terms of rates and prices in South Africa?  What's cheaper to the consumer? Domestic use of gas or electricity?

Analyzing and comparing the two energy sources - electricity and gas – what are the forecasts in terms of rates and prices in South Africa?  What's cheaper to the consumer? Domestic use of gas or electricity?

Layman's 2c. Last time I checked in my case electricity was cheaper by around 5%. But I reckon a lot depends on the individual circumstances, ie. what weight of gas you're purchasing at what price from your local supplier, what's your price per kg, and what's the price you're paying per kWh from gas, calculated using the energy conversion rates in the table below. New gas sources offshore or in the Karoo could maybe keep a lid on gas prices in the long run. Maybe.

And the question to go with it is what's your electricity tariff per kWh, which could also depend on if you're talking of a business on a summer/winter/ time of use tariff, or your level of consumption if you've got a residence on an inclining block tariff, ie. whether you're trimming down on expensive electricity or cheaper electricity, or if you've got solar off-grid in which case the kWh costs are unrelated to Eskom. NERSA has just approved price hikes of 9.41%, 8.1% and 5.2% for the next 3 financial years, and Eskom wanted 17.1% for 2019/20, 15.4% for 2020/21 and 15.5% for 2021/22 , so the price pressure is upwards.

In general I would say Utility aka Eskom is cheaper that Gas in SA. Unfortunately the only thing in SA one can depend upon is change, so this might change as electricity price hikes etc kick in.

When I did the tests (Boiling 1 liter of water from 19deg C to 90 deg C) it was cheaper to boil the electric kettle than the tin kettle on gas.

Re-heating from 45 deg C back to 90, gas was cheaper, don't ask me why, just findings in multiple runs.

But again it all depends on what you pay for gas and electricity.

In SA the more electricity you use, the more you pay, but the more gas you buy, you might get a bit of discount.

 

12 minutes ago, Riaanh said:

In general I would say Utility aka Eskom is cheaper that Gas in SA. Unfortunately the only thing in SA one can depend upon is change, so this might change as electricity price hikes etc kick in.

The dept. of energy tends to keep the prices pretty level. I've done the math too, and found the cost per unit of energy to be similar, but electrical heating to be much more efficient (element inside the water... where the heck is the lost energy going to go?).

If the price of gas becomes significantly cheaper, it is likely that the supply chain will run short. It already happens some winters here in Cape Town. People literally post on Facebook when a new supply of gas is delivered and it is all sold out within the hour.

I think the demand also keeps the prices on a par. If gas for instance suddenly became very cheap, then the demand would push the price up. Maybe someone should explain price elasticity to Eskom.

As @plonkster have mentioned elsewhere, it seems like goverment keeps them more or less balanced. Eskom got 13.5% increase again this year, so expect some gas price increases as well.