CITY POWER WILL CHARGE JOHANNESBURG RESIDENTS EXTRA FOR ELECTRICITY

Written by: Tasha Siziba

Residents of the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) will pay an additional 12.72% as of July 1, 2024, while those who purchase the Extended Social Package will pay 6.21% more.

According to City Power, the results of their cost of supply analysis and the conversations that took place during the most recent Integrated Development Plan workshops that were held all around the city were used to decide the new prices.

For an account that has been unpaid since October 2023, Eskom just last week, won a court decision against the CoJ.

The court dismissed a counterclaim by Eskom to the CoJ for R3.4 billion, ordering the CoJ to pay a portion of the debt by June 21, 2024.

“Our approved average tariff increase of 12.72% does not mean every customer will experience the same increase as we have started to implement some of the findings of the cost of supply study as a result, some customers will experience a slightly lower tariff increase while an increase to others may well be above the 12.72% threshold. For instance, the average increase to a typical indigent customer was limited to 6.21% as they are the most vulnerable customer category.”

A residential low prepaid customer will pay an extra R49.17 for 374kWh, increasing the total charge from R791.57 to R840.74. The first 350kWh will cost R2.2162/kWh, while the next 24kWh will cost R65.06.

In a statement by City Power, monthly consumption up to 350kWh will be at R2.2162/kWh, the next 150kWh for the month at R2.7110/kWh, while any usage above 500kWh per month will be at a unit charge of R3.2261/kWh. All the amounts are exclusive of VAT.

“The residential prepaid customer is currently on the lowest tariff that does not even attract any form of a basic charge. In other words, the residential prepaid customer does not adequately contribute to the fixed network operating cost, the cost attributed to repairing and maintaining the network to ensure availability on demand.”

“City Power will over the next few years gradually subject the prepaid customer to a more appropriate contribution to the cost of supplying the particular customer category with the introduction of a total basic charge of R200. This consists of a R70 service charge and a R130 network capacity charge before consideration of VAT.”

City Power offers a residential low indigent prepaid tariff to registered indigent customers earning less than R6,000 monthly.

They encourage those with financial challenges to register for ESP rebates and Free Basic Electricity.