ZESCO Board Chairperson, Vickson Ncube, has assured that the Company remains committed to providing a minimum of seven hours of power supply to residential customers as approved by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) for the Emergency Tarrif. 

He has clarified that the reduction of power supply to the four hours announced on Wednesday this week, was necessitated by some technical challenges affecting the amount of electricity the company could import at the time. 

Mr Ncube said this during a media briefing in Lusaka. 

“When we are importing power, sometimes the machines trip, other times the people who are providing the power decide to use it instead of giving it to us and that affects our ability to honour the seven hours power supply commitment,” Mr Ncube explained. 

He has disclosed that ZESCO has since rectified the problem and is now able to import enough electricity to supply at the rate of seven hours daily. 

Mr Ncube has reiterated that commercial clients remain a priority, further assuring that critical institutions will continue to be exempted from power rationing except during national power shutdowns.

On Wednesday, the February 5th, 2025, ZESCO published power rationing schedules indicating a minimum of four hours daily power supply to residential customers.