Smart meters: Beware of miscommunication in TID rollover process - ESI-Africa.com

Oct 25, 2024

Have you updated your prepaid electricity meter?

With under a month to go for the Token Identifier (TID) rollover deadline, municipalities and Eskom are in the final push to have South Africans update their smart electricity meters.

The SA Local Government Association (Salga) dashboard shows that across municipalities 375,678 meters still need to be updated.

Eskom’s data shows that around 2.8 million smart meters under its jurisdiction are still outstanding.

These figures were as of yesterday (Thursday, 24 October) at around 3pm.

Amidst this drive, City Power in Johannesburg said it would like to clarify and rectify a previous statement it had issued regarding the TID rollover deadline.

“While we initially communicated an extension of the TID rollover deadline from 24 November 2024 to 31 May 2025, we would like to emphasise that this extension is specifically limited to the Generation of Key Change Tokens only.

“To clarify, the original TID rollover deadline of 24 November 2024 remains in effect for all prepaid customers who have not yet upgraded their metering codes.

“This means that all prepaid customers must still complete their TID rollover by next month.”

The directive from the South African Local Government Association (Salga) stipulates that the postponement of the deadline to 31 May 2025 only applies to the generation of key change tokens.

Have you read?Electricity meter TID rollover: One month to go

The Key Change Tokens are unit codes that a customer receives when purchasing electricity units and are vital in facilitating coding upgrades.

Customers who have not yet upgraded from KRN1 to KRN2 as required in a month’s time, will no longer be able to load units on their meters after the cut-off date.

However, for those who are still in process of normalisation of meters, there is a grace period between now and 31 May 2025.

If their meters are normalised post the November deadline, entities can still generate key change tokens, to enable metering code upgrade.

If the May deadline passes and customers still refuse to get their meters normalised, then they face having to purchase new meters altogether.

“We are confident that all of our vending customers’ meters will have been fully upgraded by 24 November 2024. We are currently at 99% completion rate on vending pre-paid meter upgrades across our Services Delivery Centres (SDCs) supply areas in Johannesburg.

“So far, Roodepoort, Reuven, Randburg, and Lenasia SDCs have achieved over 99.5% compliance, while Midrand and Hursthill stand at 99%, the Inner City at 98%, and Alexandra at 89%.

Have you read?TID rollover: Joburg’s meter update challenge, national progress slow

“Overall, we have successfully recoded 140,578 out of 141,917 vending pre-paid meters, resulting in a project completion rate of 99%.

“A significant challenge, however, remains with over 140,000 meters not vending, primarily due to tampering.”

City Power said many customers are bypassing their meters to avoid paying for the electricity they use daily; “hence many are refusing our technicians access for meter audits. We are actively addressing this challenge and are committed to resolving it.”

“Our goal is to ensure all customers are metered and accounted for, and that everyone pays their fair share for electricity usage. We apologise for any misunderstanding that the previous statement may have caused and appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure a smooth transition for all our customers.”

Meanwhile, the Western Cape Government has also urged residents to ensure that their pre-paid electricity meters are updated before the deadline.

“The Western Cape is close to full compliance, with 98.4% of meters already reset within municipal supply areas. This is well ahead of the national average of 85.6%. The municipalities of Bergrivier, Cape Agulhas, Cederberg, Drakenstein, Overstrand, Swartland and the City of Cape Town have already reported a 100% completed reset,” said Finance MEC Deidré Baartman.

“I want to commend Western Cape municipalities on the progress they have made. However, we are just 30 days away and we need to make a final push to ensure that every last remaining meter is reset,” said Baartman.

“We do not want a situation where any household is left behind and, in the dark, come 24 November.”

Once the software expires, residents will not be able to recharge with new tokens and will lose their power supply if their meters are not updated.

The update requires a manual reset code which must be entered into the pre-paid meter in the same way as normal recharge codes. If this is not done, residents will not be able to load electricity.

“We want to avoid a scenario where residents cannot recharge after 24 November and are stuck without electricity and are unable to recharge their meters. We, therefore, ask residents to contact their local municipal office if they are uncertain about the status of their meter update.”

Have you read?Cape Town electricity meter replacement reaches new areas

The Provincial Treasury has been “in continued communication with municipalities and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition. The Provincial Treasury will engage with municipalities that are lagging behind.”

Eskom customers who require assistance or are unsure whether their meters have been reset can contact Eskom’s General Customer Care Number (08600 37 566) or visit the Chatbot (https://alfred.eskom.co.za/chatroom/).

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