Rwandans will have to wait a little longer for low electricity tariffs.

Electricity regulator has said generation costs are still high because the country still depends on heavy fuel oils to run the generators. According to the government, transport costs have remained high at 40 per cent.

Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (Rura) official said consumers will continue paying more for electricity as tariffs are not likely to come down soon.

“It is unlikely that the tariffs will reduce. We shall have to wait for the new financial year to decide either to maintain the current tariff rates, reduce them or increase,” said Beata Mukangabo, head of licensing and tariffs at Rura.

At least 38MW were added on the national grid after the oil prices touched lows of $52 per barrel early this year from highs of $108 per barrel.

Many consumers expected the positive developments to translate into lower electricity tariffs in Rwanda. However Rwandans are paying more for electricity, according to a UN body.

The United Nations Economic Commission sub region office for Eastern Africa said tariffs have increased to Rwf172 per kwh in Rwanda.

Previously, the government utility company was retailing electricity at Rwf158 kwh (0.22 cents), meaning consumers are paying more Rwf14 per kwh to afford electricity.

The costs makes Rwanda’s power the most expensive in the East African Community states. But government officials were quick to defend the tariffs, saying they are affordable partly because of the government interventions.

Comparatively in the region, the UN body said Kenyans pay Rwf108 per kwh ($0.15), Ugandan Rwf122 per kwh ($0.17) while Tanzanian enjoy the lowest electricity tariffs at Rwf36 per kwh ($0.05).

Rwanda imported energy products worth $385 million in 2013 at a unit import price of $1.40 per kilogramme.

Crude oil price and Rwanda’s energy product import prices are correlated.

Energy products import prices are therefore expected to decline as a result of falling crude oil prices.

However, analysts say the final price of service in Rwanda has to factor in the high transport costs. In Rwanda, generating one megawatt of electricity in Rwanda costs 0.40. Despite the high generations cost, Rwanda Energy Group is retailing power at 0.24 cents a kilowatt per hour.

This means government is spending 0.16 cents in subsidies on each kilowatt hour.

Rwanda generates over 40 per cent of its electricity from burning heavy fuel oils to add to the current generation capacity of 155MW.

In the short-term Rwanda is bridging the energy deficit by importing electricity from Uganda and Congo.