The West Rand Power Distributions (WRPD) company has released a statement in response to a notice posted by Eskom on various public forums/ pages.
The notice, posted on 23 January, noted that “Eskom intends to disconnect supply to West Rand Power Distributors for the R18 786 593,07 it owes the utility. The planned disconnection was communicated on 24 December.”
Read the initial article here:
West Village power shutdown not a concern for Krugersdorp
Eskom later cleared up some confusion, confirming reports by the Krugersdorp News that this proposed shutdown would not affect any of the West Rand areas such as Krugersdorp, Roodepoort and Randfontein, but is limited to the West Village area just outside of Krugersdorp. It’s important to note that West Rand Power Distributors are not affiliated with Mogale City Local Municipality, Joburg City Power or Rand West City Local Municipality.
WRPD responded with the following: “West Village, a suburb of Krugersdorp supplied by private distributor WRPD is locked in dispute resolution processes over unilateral and unjustified amounts added to the WRPD bill from Eskom in 2017, alleging that due to retrospective re-billing, WRPD owed it some exorbitant amounts.
“WRPD disputed this amount and requested proper details from Eskom as WRPD has at all material times made payment to Eskom of its running account in full. Eskom failed to provide proper billing, to which WRPD registered a dispute with Eskom, following the correct protocols.”
WRPD then made a statement regarding a legal case between them and Eskom. “WRPD called in Energy Adviser Ted Blom in November 2018, who immediately registered a dispute with the National Energy Regulator (Nersa). Amanda Mtembu and her team were allocated by Nersa to hear the dispute in March 2019. At the hearing, Eskom again failed to justify their claim, and the meeting, with Eskom concurrence, declared that Eskom was to submit audited accounts for WRPD before the resumption of the hearing by end April 2019.”
Also Read:
Eskom’s latest West Rand Power Distributions statement corrects misinterpretation by the media
WRPD claimed that Eskom has as of yet not submitted the audited accounts.
The statement went on to say that “… against the above background, Eskom’s statement is clearly intended to ensure dissidence among WRPD customers, of whom over 300 completed complaints against Eskom on Sunday, 19 January 2020. Those complaints will be delivered to Eskom before the closing date for objection today [24 January].”
They lastly claimed that, “… for Eskom to state that it has not received objections before the closing date has expired, is misleading, and WRPD reserves its rights to take the appropriate action against Eskom. On Friday, 24 January, Eskom confirmed receipt of all submissions, complaints and representations received from WRPD, individuals and companies in the affected area as well as other affected parties. WRPD and all affected parties are now awaiting Eskom’s response.”
