Eskom's Bid to Recover $5.5 Billion Starts in South Africa

(Bloomberg) -- Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s state-owned power utility, will make presentations as part of a process to recover 66.6 billion rand ($5.5 billion) in costs over the past three years, the utility said in an emailed statement.

The public hearings begin Monday and are scheduled until May 11. They are organized through the National Energy Regulator of South Africa and concern the regulatory clearing account balance from 2014 to 2017.

The utility is facing financial strain as a result of factors including weak demand, delinquent municipalities that don’t pay their bills and widespread allegations of corruption. Last week Eskom took an initial step to sell its mortgage unit, a non-core asset, to try help stabilize the company.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Burkhardt in Johannesburg at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Renee Bonorchis, Jacqueline Mackenzie

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