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The Presidency does not anticipate that Eskom's move to reserve scarce grid capacity for independent power producers (IPPs) participating in public procurement bidding rounds will disrupt the more than 130 private IPP projects being advanced outside of those processes to supply private consumers.

Speaking during a briefing convened to report back on the reforms implemented under Operation Vulindlela, including those undertaken to address South Africa's loadshedding crisis, the Presidency's project management unit head Rudi Dicks lauded the progress being made through the Energy One Stop Shop to support the private projects stimulated by the reform to allow grid-connected private projects of any size to proceed without a licence.

The pipeline of such projects had increased significantly and currently represented a combined capacity of 22.5 GW and an estimated investment value of R390-billion.

The projects, he stated, were also additional to those that would be bid as part of various public procurement processes being advanced in line with Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act, where Ministerial determinations had been issued for the procurement of about 10 000 MW of wind, solar PV and gas-to-power generation, as well as battery energy storage.

Asked by Engineering News whether private IPP investment could be undermined by Eskom's application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa for permission to discriminate in favour of Section 34 IPPs Dicks said: "This does not impact on the existing 22 500 MW pipeline, as many of [those projects] have already been through [the process of securing grid connection] budget quotes."

He argued, too, that Eskom was not seeking to preserve capacity across the entire grid system, but rather to ensure that there was sufficient grid capacity for wind projects in light of the disappointment of Bid Window Six (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, when no wind IPP was selected for the 3 200 MW initially allocated.

This failure was attributed to the fact that the grid capacity that formed the basis for the bids by wind IPPs that submitted BW6 bids was allocated to private IPPs, which were allocated that same capacity under Eskom's prevailing 'first come, first served' grid-access rules. These have since been adjusted under Eskom's 2023 Interim Grid Capacity Allocation Rules to 'first ready, first served'.

Defending Eskom's application for permission to reserve grid for public procurement, Dicks said: "It is important for us, in terms of broader public interest, that we ensure that we don't have a similar situation that happened during Bid Window Six, where [Bid Window Seven] potentially fails."

Earlier this year, the deadline for bid submissions under BW7 was extended by a month to May 30 to accommodate both grid-connection uncertainty and a curtailment addendum to the Grid Capacity Connection Assessment (GCCA 2025) published by Eskom in January.

The GCCA 2025 addendum states that 3 470 MW of additional grid capacity to connect wind generation will be made available by accepting a "reasonable share of no more than 10% of curtailment". A total of 2 680 MW of this capacity is available in the Western Cape and 790 MW in the Eastern Cape.

Dicks would not be drawn, meanwhile, on whether President Cyril Ramaphosa would sign the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill, some aspects of which have been criticised, following its passing on May 16 by the National Council of Provinces.

However, the Operation Vulindlela 'Phase 1 Review' document published on May 22, specifically outlines the priorities for electricity reform "following the passage of the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill".

It states that, during the "next phase" reform will focus on completing the restructuring of Eskom, establishi...

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Municipal debt remains one of Eskom's biggest challenges, says Eskom CFO Calib Cassim.

"At the end of March, we were sitting at around R75-billion of municipal arrears owing to us. That has grown in the last financial year in the region of R15-billion.

"Clearly any business cannot sustain carrying R15-billion of debt."

Cassim was speaking at Enlit Africa 2024, held in Cape Town this week.

He noted that the municipal debt relief programme offered by government to municipalities had proved unsuccessful.

This programme allows municipalities to have their Eskom debt written off systematically over three years. To qualify, municipalities have to comply with 14 conditions, including keeping up with their current account payments to Eskom.

Out of 72 municipality applications for debt relief, 70 have been approved.

"Many [municipalities] have signed up," said Cassim, "but in order to get a third of their debt off, they need to comply for 12 consecutive months in terms of paying their current accounts.

"I think, in terms of compliance, we are sitting at 10%. Some of them are partially compliant."

Cassim said the programme had not "delivered the change we were looking for".

He added that a mechanism had to be put in place through the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom) workstreams to ensure "that Eskom gets paid for what it delivers", as this "would take pressure off the fiscus".

"Because, if we can't meet our requirements, we have no resort but to go to the shareholder and burdening government and National Treasury and, effectively, the tax payer.

"We need to make the same amount of effort we have taken with the Necom process [to restore power generation] and put our minds together and find a permanent solution for municipal debt."

Cassim added that Eskom's own debt relief programme, in which government had taken on R254-billion rand of the utility's debt over the medium term, had been able to stimulate Eskom's recovery - with the country currently approaching day 60 of no loadshedding.

"[The Debt Relief Bill] has freed up time and our ability to allocate capital expenditure to divisions three years in advance. We have not been able to do that for six years.

"When I started in this role, I looked at cash flow every day to see if we could meet the salary account at end of month for 40 000 people," noted Cassim.

"Where we are sitting now, I can look six months ahead and I'm not stressing.

"That means we can focus on the turnaround and many other things."

Cassim said the improvement in generation efforts had also strengthened Eskom's financial position.

"In seven weeks we went from an open-cycle gas turbine [diesel] spend of R5.2-billion to R1.2-billion - that is a R4-billion swing in seven weeks.

"I told Bheki [Eskom Generation CEO Bheki Nxumalo] that you've stopped loadshedding, and I want to now stop making losses," quipped Cassim.

"I'm tired of it. Morale has increased significantly…to know that we are not loadshedding. When I told my son to do his homework in the past, he would reply: Can you stop loadshedding? Now he has to do his homework."

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The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has invited comment on Eskom's application to preserve and reserve grid connection capacity for independent power producers (IPPs) participating in public procurement processes implemented in line with Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA).

In its application, Eskom indicates that it is seeking permission to discriminate in favour of public procurement IPP projects, at the expense of private IPP projects.

The utility argues that such discrimination has become necessary, owing to a combination of grid capacity constraints and amendments to Schedule 2 of the ERA that has "resulted in an exponential increase in applications for grid connections from IPPs with private power purchase agreements".

As a consequence, private IPPs are moving at a faster pace to secure grid-connection capacity compared with Section 34 IPPs, which must go through a protracted Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) procurement process.

Eskom has already implemented Interim Grid Capacity Allocation Rules (IGCAR), governed by the principle of 'first ready, first served' rather than 'first come, first served', in an effort to mitigate the risk of so-called grid hogging.

However, it argues in its submission that it is also necessary to preserve available grid capacity on the network when a public procurement programme is contemplated, and/or reserve capacity for public IPPs in specific congested areas.

"Without any form of protection, public procurement programmes remain incapable of competing with the much more agile and well-funded private sector energy procurement programmes.

"Therefore, without grid preservation/reservation in favour of the public energy procurement programmes, these programmes are likely to continue failing as evidenced by the recent failure of Bid Window 6 (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme."

Eskom described the outcome of BW6 as "disappointing", noting that the DMRE was able to award only 1 000 MW to solar PV projects, with no wind capacity procured despite a 3 600 MW allocation.

"The basis for this outcome was the uptake of available grid connection capacity by private IPPs (Schedule 2 IPPs) that had applied for budget quotations in advance of the publicly procured/section 34 IPP projects."

Eskom group executive for distribution Monde Bala said during a briefing this week that, following BW6, Eskom had investigated various mechanisms to improve the grid allocation process, in addition to the ICGAR, which was implemented in 2023.

He noted that a curtailment addendum to the Grid Connection Capacity Assessment, which released 3 470 MW of capacity in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces for new wind generation, had been published ahead of the current application to Nersa for grid reservation and preservation.

"The reason we are applying for this grid reservation is to find a mechanism to ensure that we reserve the grid for the connections that are specifically identified as part of the [public procurement] programme," Bala said.

The Eskom submission acknowledges upfront that the reservation and preservation being sought discriminates directly against IPPs and indirectly against those private consumers seeking to contract with such IPPs to procure "green electrons".

It also acknowledges that it requires Nersa's approval to proceed, given its obligations under legislation and the Grid Code to provide open and non-discriminatory access to the transmission and distribution power systems to third parties.

Nevertheless, it argues that such discrimination is in the public interest, as a continued failure of public procurement programmes will erode investor confidence, undermine government efforts to attract foreign direct investment, and frustrate ambitions related ...

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The Eskom board has given its approval for the continued operation of the Camden, Grootvlei and Hendrina power stations to 2030 - a departure from the original decommissioning schedule that has reportedly been endorsed by Cabinet.

In response to a question posed by Engineering News during an update on the Energy Action Plan, head of generation Bheki Nxumalo said: "We have just recently received board approval to run three of our stations - that is Hendrina, Grootvlei and Camden - up until 2030."

Under the original plan, the power stations were scheduled to be retired between 2023 and 2027, following Komati's retirement.

The last of Komati's nine units, with a capacity to produce 121 MW, was shut in October 2022, leading to criticism that the decision had contributed to loadshedding and that it had not been closed with either sufficient consultation or with compensatory measures to soften the socioeconomic losses for surrounding communities.

Nxumalo added that the extension had been granted in the interest of "ensuring the grid is stabilised" and to cater for the introduction of additional capacity before finalising new decommissioning dates.

"At least now we have created the space where we will keep this plant maintained up until 2030 and the actual [decommissioning date] we will communicated closer to the [time]," he said.

The board decision, Nxumalo added, had followed consultations with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and there was "no contradiction" between the board decision and the current policy framework within which the power stations were operating.

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa added that the decision to delay the decommissioning of the power stations had been approved by Cabinet.

"The board has given them the green light and they [the Eskom executives] will do an assessment on what constitutes the future prospects of these units to continue to generate," Ramokgopa said.

He added that the costs and emission impacts would be modelled and new timelines would be communicated "at the right time".

The Minister added that government had committed itself to base its future decisions on the electricity supply on a "nexus" of four considerations, namely energy access, energy security, environmental sustainability and socioeconomic impact.

On the point of energy security he said it would be illogical to close power stations in a context where there was a supply deficit.

"There is something incoherent about that particular argument and, of course, we have put it to bed.

"What we need is [for those power stations] to continue to give us those megawatts so that we can sustain the South African economy."

It is uncertain what the decision will mean for South Africa's decarbonisation commitments or the $11.5-billion in pledges made in support of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan.

Bloomberg reported recently that South Africa would provide an update to the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in June outlining an intention to close the Camden, Grootvlei and Hendrina power plants between 2027 and 2030, instead of a prior schedule of 2023 to 2027.

It also reported that, in order to meet a yearly emission-reduction target of 50-million to 71-million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent required for ongoing CIF funding, the Presidency was in talks with Eskom about closing a number of units at other power plants.

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Newly-formed electricity trader Apollo Africa reports that it is experiencing strong demand from potential customers for the renewable electricity that will be produced from the grid-ready 210 MW Hendrina Wind Farm, being developed by Enertrag in the Mpumalanga province.

Apollo Africa, which is majority-owned by JSE-listed Reunert and is in the final stages of securing a trading licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, has entered into an exclusive agreement with Enertrag for the electricity that will be produced at the facility.

It is currently overseeing a process through which it will enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs), ranging in duration from three to 20 years, with multiple buyers of the wheeled electricity, with contracts ranging in size between 0.5 MW and 50 MW.

MD Jenna Harris tells Engineering News that Apollo initiated the sales process on May 1 and has since received offtake interest well above 50% of the wind farm's anticipated yearly electricity production of more than 688 GWh; this being the minimum contractual threshold required to advance the project to bankability.

The sales window is scheduled to close in August, with the aim of progressing the project to financial close before December 1, the date on which construction of the wind farm is scheduled to begin, with the goal of producing first power in May 2026 before ramping up to full production in November of that same year.

Located about 20 km from Eskom's existing Hendrina coal power station, the wind project is in the final stages of securing a crucial grid-connection budget quote from Eskom, making it one of the few private wind projects to have achieved that milestone to date.

The project's relative maturity, with Eskom grid capacity already allocated, is a material advantage, as it can take up to five years to advance a wind project to bankability. In this case, it is linked to Enertrag's decision in 2017 to begin assessing the wind potential of Mpumalanga in light of indications of emerging grid limitations in the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape provinces that have hitherto attracted the lion's share of wind developer interest, owing to their perceived resource advantages.

Enertrag's Dustin Rebello tells Engineering News that, having collected 36 months of wind data across the farms on which the project will be located and in other parts of the province, it has found the Mpumalanga wind resource to be comparable to the energy resources of projects it has in other provinces.

"Linked to this we have found our Mpumalanga projects to have particularly favourable generation profiles, with a lot of night-time generation, winter generation, and peak time generation," Rebello explains.

In addition, there is the added benefit that the project - which is in the Middleburg area, and which will connect at the Hendrina substation - is in close proximity to many potential consumers, for which decarbonisation is a business imperative. Over the first 20 years of operation, the Hendrina project is expected to save an estimated 8.7-million tons of CO2.

The wind farm will also co-exist with prevailing commercial farming under way on the nine farms.

"The strategic advantages of wind energy are massive in today's evolving energy landscape," Harris adds. "With 24/7 green energy production, it fills in the gaps around the decreasing coal-fired generation and the expanding deployment of embedded solar, offering synergistic opportunities for blending solar and wind power."

Apollo is also targeting to close a market gap that has emerged between those energy-intensive companies that are able to enter into bulk long-term PPAs with independent power producers (IPPs) with utility-scale projects and those companies that also have decarbonisation ambitions but lack the scale or the operational...

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the significance of the National Council of Provinces' (NCOP's) vote to pass the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill; if the Bill is likely to face any opposition; and what further actions can be expected once the Bill becomes law.

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A new International Energy Agency (IEA) report describes the sharp decline in critical mineral prices over the past year as a double-edged sword, cautioning that, while it has been a boon for clean energy deployment and affordability, it is a bane for critical mineral investment and diversification.

The 'Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024' highlights that, following two years of dramatic increases, the prices of critical minerals fell steeply in 2023, returning to levels last seen before the pandemic.

"Materials used to make batteries saw particularly significant decreases, with the price of lithium dropping by 75% and the prices of cobalt, nickel and graphite falling by between 30% and 45% - helping drive battery prices 14% lower."

As a result of falling prices, the market size for key energy transition minerals contracted by 10% to $325-billion in 2023, despite demand growth.

The report shows that investment in critical minerals mining grew by 10% and exploration spending rose by 15%, but was slower than in 2022. In addition, investment in certain minerals, notably copper and lithium, was falling short of what was required for a transition to a net-zero energy system.

Detailed project-by-project analysis in the report suggests that announced projects are sufficient to meet only 70% of copper and 50% of lithium requirements in 2035 in a scenario in which countries worldwide meet their national climate goals. Markets for other minerals look more balanced, the reports states, if projects come through as scheduled.

"Today's well-supplied market may not be a good guide for the future," the IEA cautions, with demand for critical minerals set to grow strongly in all IEA scenarios, driven by electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and other clean energy technologies.

"Today's combined market size of key energy transition minerals is set to more than double to $770-billion by 2040 in a pathway to net zero emissions by mid-century."

The IEA also notes that announced projects do not change the high geographical concentration of supply, with China projected to retain a very strong position in the refining and processing sector.

The report follows an announcement by US President Joe Biden of a ramp-up in tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars, solar panels, batteries, battery components and parts, and some critical minerals, justified on the basis that American workers were being penalised by anticompetitive and unfair practices from China.

However, several critical minerals where China dominates supply were excluded.

The IEA report suggests that lithium and copper are more exposed to supply and volume risks, whereas graphite, cobalt, rare earths and nickel face more substantial geopolitical risks.

The report also urges a stepping up in recycling efforts to ease potential strains on supply.

"Some $800-billion of investment in mining is required between now and 2040 to get on track for a 1.5 °C scenario.

"Without the strong uptake of recycling and reuse, mining capital requirements would need to be one-third higher."

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The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has approved the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill, which has far-reaching implications for the future structure and operation of an electricity supply industry that has hitherto been dominated by Eskom.

The Bill received support from all provinces besides the Free State, which lacked a mandate to vote, and the Western Cape, which argued that there had been insufficient time for provinces to consult their residents on the contents of the Bill.

The ERA Bill was approved by the National Assembly on March 14 and, following the approval of the NCOP, will be sent to the President for signing.

In a media release issued by Parliament following the NCOP vote it was stated that the legislation aimed to provide for additional electricity generation capacity and infrastructure, establish the duties, powers and functions of the Transmission System Operator (TSO), and provide for an open-market platform that allowed for competitive electricity trading.

"It further aims to amend the regulatory framework for the electricity industry in response to prevailing conditions in the South African electricity power system and the Department of Public Enterprises' Roadmap for Eskom in a Reformed Electricity Supply Industry of 2019," the statement added.

Parliament added that the Bill would now be sent to the President for assent and it had been widely suggested, but not yet confirmed, that President Cyril Ramaphosa would sign the legislation ahead of the May 29 elections.

Unlike the controversial National Health Insurance Bill, which Ramaphosa signed at a Union Buildings ceremony on May 15, the ERA has the backing of business, which has called for its urgent passage as part of initiatives and reforms that it views to be necessary to end loadshedding and place the electricity sector on a more sustainable footing.

In its response to the Bill's passing, the Solar PV industry Association (SAPVIA) urged Ramaphosa to "find his pen and sign it into law", a quip on the pen the President said he had ready for months ahead of the signing of the NHI Bill.

SAPVIA CEO Dr Rethabile Melamu said the ERA would open the market to suppliers of electricity and bring the industry closer to a competitive market.

"There are several benefits that the Bill will bring but crucially, the Bill allows for the systematic unbundling of Eskom into a transmission system operator and market operator and accelerate investment into additional generation capacity and supporting infrastructure," Melamu said, adding that the legislation would facilitate more investment into the industry.

South African Wind Energy Association CEO Niveshen Govender, meanwhile, described the approval as another step forward in South Africa's efforts to create a dynamic, open electricity market that would contribute to energy security in the long run.

SAWEA, he said, eagerly awaited the President's consideration, which will shape the energy landscape for generations to come.

"Key provisions of the ERA Bill, such as establishing an open market platform for competitive electricity trading and creating a TSO, are poised to unlock new opportunities for wind energy development.

"These measures should streamline grid access and facilitate more electricity transactions, enabling greater integration of new wind power into South Africa's energy mix," Govender added.

Energy Council of South Africa CEO James Mackay said the ERA Bill was one of the critical pillars of the Energy Action Plan and had been identified and backed by business and government as a priority reform for restoring investor confidence and unlocking investment to support the country's transition to a low-carbon energy system.

"Critically, the ERA Bill unlocks the two most critical enablers of our energy transition," Mackay said.

"Firstly, an i...

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President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged the fear that his signing of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law had generated during a signing ceremony held at the Union Buildings on Wednesday.

However, he described the NHI as an opportunity to break with the prevailing inequality in the health system and called on stakeholders to work with government to make it work.

"We are a country that has been built on dialogue and partnership, on working together to overcome differences in pursuit of a better life for all its people. Let us work together, in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity, to make the NHI work," Ramaphosa appealed.

He was speaking, however, against the backdrop of strenuous opposition to the legislation by healthcare practitioners, funders, business, civil society groupings, some trade unions, as well as opposition political parties and an expectation that the Act would be challenged legally.

Nevertheless, Ramaphosa described the signing - which he had signalled his intention to carry out on several occasions, including while on the campaign trail ahead of what is set to be a highly competitive election on May 29 - as a "pivotal moment in the transformation of our country".

He likened the current anxiety to fears expressed ahead of the transition to democracy and the introduction of the right to strike and argued that those fears had proved to be unfounded.

"By putting in place a system that ensures equal access to health care regardless of a person's social and economic circumstances, the NHI takes a bold stride towards a society where no individual must bear an untenable financial burden while seeking medical attention."

Despite grave concerns about the implications of the NHI for taxpayers, as well as the potential for corruption, the President did not provide details on how the scheme would be funded.

He said only that the NHI would be funded through a comprehensive strategy that would combine various financial resources, including additional funding and reallocating funds already in the health system.

It has been estimated that the NHI would require yearly funding of at least R400-billion.

"The financial hurdles facing the NHI can be navigated with careful planning, strategic resource allocation and a steadfast commitment to achieving equity," the President added.

Speaking from the same podium, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla emphasised that the yet-to-be-established NHI Fund, which would procure services from public and private service providers, would be governed by a board made up of "people of good standing".

Both Phaahla and Ramaphosa also underlined that implementation would be pursued on a phased basis and would not be implemented as a single event.

"Following the signing of this Bill, we will be establishing the systems and putting in place the necessary governance structures to implement the NHI based on the primary health care approach," Ramaphosa said.

They also denied that the legislation has been rushed and that its passage had failed to follow the correct procedure, arguing that it had undergone thorough consultations ahead of the parliamentary process, which had itself endured for five years.

"What we need to remember is that South Africa is a constitutional democracy.

"The Parliament that adopted this legislation was democratically elected and its members carried an electoral mandate to establish a National Health Insurance.

"South Africa is also a country governed by the rule of law in which no person may be unduly deprived of their rights," the President said.

Ahead of the signing, the South African Health Professionals Collaboration (SAHPC), which represents more than 25 000 private and public sector healthcare workers, expressed profound disappointment at the President's decision to sign the Bill into law.

"Where we are now ...

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The head of energy at the South African Local Government Association (Salga) has called for a review of both the size of the free basic electricity (FBE) allocation as well as the way the grant is assigned, arguing that many indigent households are currently not benefiting from the scheme as intended.

Speaking during a roundtable discussion on South Africa's electrification programme as part of government's ongoing activities to mark 30 years of democracy, Nhlanhla Ngidi described the current monthly allocation of 50 kWh as "minute" and well below the 300 kWh to 400 kWh that poor households were typically consuming.

He also argued that the registers of indigent households, which are used by municipalities to distribute the benefit, were out of date, resulting in intended beneficiaries being bypassed while those with means to pay were continuing to enjoy the benefit.

In addition, the widespread practice of bypassing electricity meters, which was further undermining the relevance and effectiveness of FBE, while robbing both municipal distributors and Eskom of revenue.

"The policy has good intentions, but we need to review it," Ngidi said, adding that after the elections government should also prioritise a recrafting of the way indigent households are identified and supported with electricity.

Research published by the Public Affairs Research Institute in 2023 concluded that fewer than a quarter of qualifying indigent households were benefiting from the 50-kWh-a-month scheme, and that the scale of the grant was also insufficient to reduce poverty and inequality.

The authors urged government to consider increasing the monthly FBE allocation to 350 kWh, which it described as the minimum threshold at which electricity would begin yielding meaningful socioeconomic benefits.

Speaking during the roundtable, EE Business Intelligence MD Chris Yelland added that there was also a need to improve data collection and research around the electrification programme.

Describing the connection of some 8.3-million households as a success, he said the goal of universal access beyond the current 94.7% remained elusive, owing to ongoing changes in circumstances driven by factors such as migration and urbanisation. Better data was required, he argued, to help identify the gaps, while research was needed to find better ways to close them.

Yelland also argued that while the provision of access to electricity was crucial, it was equally important to address affordability to make that access truly meaningful and to mitigate the threat of electricity theft.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy's Lufuno Madzhie reported that the backlog was currently estimated to be over 3-milion households, 1.2-million of which were in informal settlements mostly in and around South Africa's large urban centres.

Besides internal capacity and financial constraints, municipalities also faced legal hurdles to electrifying informal settlements, which had not yet been resolved.

Nevertheless, there was consensus that there should be ongoing efforts to meet the universal access goal, which has both social and economic benefits, ranging from convenience and safety, through to enabling night-time study and the launching of small businesses.

Eskom Distribution senior manager Portia Papu indicated that Eskom remained committed to implementing the electrification programme, having been responsible for some six-million of the new connections deployed to date; initially off its own balance sheet and currently drawing on a yearly allocation in the national Budget.

Papu indicated that the utility was also increasingly turning to new technologies, including microgrids, to implement electrification in those far-flung areas where the cost of connecting communities to the national grid was considered prohibitive.