JOHANNESBURG, Feb 8 (Reuters) – South Africa’s energy regulator said on Sunday that it granted state ​utility Eskom larger electricity rate increases for ‌its next two financial years than originally set after admitting ‌errors in its earlier calculations.

Eskom’s prices will now rise 8.76% in April this year and 8.83% in April 2027 instead of 5.36% and 6.19%, regulator Nersa ⁠said in a ‌statement.

It added that the revised tariff increases balanced Eskom’s financial sustainability with customer affordability.

Eskom, ‍a former monopoly that still supplies the bulk of the electricity in Africa’s biggest economy, has been mired ​in a financial crisis for years, which it ‌partly blames on Nersa’s tariff decisions.

But the utility made its first full-year profit in eight years last year, helped by a multi-year government bailout and a sharp turnaround in the performance of its coal-fired ⁠power stations.

After first setting rate ​increases in January 2025, Nersa ​admitted errors in calculating Eskom’s tariffs for the 2025/26 to 2027/28 financial years and ‍reached a ⁠settlement with Eskom in July.

But in December the high court rejected the settlement and ordered Nersa ⁠to make a fresh determination on Eskom’s tariffs after ‌getting submissions from the public.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning; ‌Editing by Cynthia Osterman)