City Power announced that an independent probe had found that corruption and fraud were not at play when Edison Power Group was awarded the R1.25 billion tender and the initial phase of the new billing system was already underway.
City Power appointed the independent review panel after the Mail & Guardian had alleged that the process had been doctored to ensure that Edison Power Group won the contract, but the panel concluded that they could “find no evidence of improper interference in the bid evaluation process”.
The new meters, which claim will eliminate the city’s struggle to bill residents correctly following the failure of its R580-million Project Phakama, were already being piloted on 2 500 customers.
The initial phase of installation was focused on larger power users and meters had already been installed in Ferndale, northern Johannesburg.
Installations would soon extend to Northcliff, Craighall Park and Houghton, and City Power planned to complete the rollout of the meters by 2015.
Hloni Motloung, City Power’s media relations consultant, said the smart meters contributed to the stability of electricity supply, as they send an alarm as soon as power is lost or interrupted.
He added that unplanned power interruptions could be detected immediately, leading to quicker response and shorter power restoration times.
The meters, which record consumption at hourly intervals and send daily data feeds back to the utility for monitoring and billing purposes, will improve on the existing IT system that used estimates to bill residents.
