The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) has dismissed claims circulating on social media that electricity tariffs have increased, assuring consumers that the rates approved for the third quarter of 2026 remain unchanged for the fourth quarter.
ERA described as false claims that Shs10,000 can now buy only four or five units of electricity, saying the approved tariffs for October to December 2026 have been published and will remain in force.
“The claim is false. The end-user electricity tariffs for the fourth quarter of 2026, covering October to December, have been approved and published. The approved rates remain unchanged,” ERA said.
The tariffs applicable to customers of Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) will remain in effect from October 1 to December 31, 2026.
Domestic electricity tariffs
Under the approved schedule, domestic consumers will continue paying Shs250 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the first 15 units under the lifeline tariff.
Units 16 to 80 will remain at Shs779.4 per kWh, while units 81 to 150, covered under the cooking tariff, will cost Shs412 per kWh. Consumption exceeding 150 units will continue to attract a rate of Shs779.4 per kWh.
ERA clarified that the lifeline tariff applies to domestic consumers whose rolling monthly average electricity consumption over the preceding six months does not exceed 100 kWh.
For commercial consumers, the average tariff will remain at Shs562.1 per kWh. Peak consumption will be charged at Shs666.5 per kWh, shoulder-period consumption at Shs562.1 per kWh and off-peak consumption at Shs429.7 per kWh.
Medium-sized manufacturers will continue paying an average of Shs363.8 per kWh, while medium-sized service consumers will pay Shs423.9 per kWh.
Large industrial manufacturers will retain an average tariff of Shs308.1 per kWh under Block One and Shs290.6 per kWh under the declining Block Two tariff.
Extra-large industrial manufacturers will continue paying Shs207.7 per kWh, while extra-large service consumers will pay Shs224.2 per kWh, provided the system operator has not declared excess capacity.
Public amenities, including public hospitals, institutional cooking facilities and street lighting, will continue to pay Shs360 per kWh.
ERA said its fourth-quarter tariff review took into account movements in the exchange rate, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the electricity generation mix and international fuel prices.
For the October–December 2026 review, the exchange rate was set at Shs3,770 per US dollar. The core Consumer Price Index for August 2026 stood at 141.98, while the international fuel price was recorded at $86.44 per barrel.
The authority also clarified the respective roles of the regulator and UEDCL, explaining that ERA is legally mandated to determine and approve electricity tariffs, while UEDCL applies the approved rates when supplying and billing customers.
“UEDCL is a licensed electricity distribution company. It applies the approved tariffs when supplying and billing customers but does not independently set or change them,” ERA said.
ERA explained that tariff setting is a regulated process in which it assesses the costs and economic conditions affecting electricity supply before determining the rates licensed providers may charge consumers.
“Once approved, the tariff schedule is published for consumers and service providers to consult,” the authority said.
The announcement means there will be no quarter-on-quarter change in the main electricity tariffs compared with the July–September 2026 schedule.
