Understanding prepayment electricity
Are you a prepaying electricity consumer? Do you know how this system works exactly?
Following a complaint where a Boksburg resident was utterly surprised when only getting 43kWh electricity units for R200, the Advertiser investigated to shed light on this topic.
According to Ekurhuleni metro spokesperson, Themba Gadebe, the July 1 tariffs, as in previous years, contain the inclining block tariff (or IBT, in short).
Therefore, the more units used, the higher the rate. Residents must, therefore, make sure they are categorised in the right block regarding tarriffs.
“The nature of the IBT is that every block progressively gets more expensive, as units are consumed during a calendar month,” says Gadebe.
“The IBT was designed to assist vulnerable customers in gaining access to electricity, at the best possible rate.
“To emphasise, this tariff is aimed at vulnerable customers, for example, those using well below 600 units per month. These customers would not even be aware of the very high third block rate.”
Gadebe says the Tariff C is not intended for customers using more than 600 units per month, and to ensure that this principle remains firm, block three is very expensive, costing R4 per kWh.
The result will be that customers who should not be on this tariff will incur a high cost for electricity.
According to Gadebe, Tariff B is the correct tariff for customers using slightly more than 600 units per month, and the change to Tariff B is free of charge.
“Tariff B has a flat rate of R1.27 per kWh unit (excluding VAT) for prepayment and conventional meters.
“An additional monthly fixed charge of R27.25 (excluding VAT) is levied for conventional meters only, therefore, not payable by prepayment meters.Tariff A is, thus, suited for low consumption residential customers.
The following charges are payable:
July to June Inclining Block Rate Tariffs:
* Block A (usage of 1kWh to 600kWh – R0.83 per kWh, excluding VAT)
* Block B (usage of more than 600kWh and less than 700kWh – R1.43 per kWh excluding VAT)
* Block C (more than 700kWh – R4 per kWh excluding VAT)
To effect the tariff change, contact Verona Marcus at the Boksburg Energy Depot at Verona.Marcus@ekurhuleni.gov.za or 011 999 5406.
– @IschkeBoksburg
