Joburg residents asked to open their doors for free prepaid meter upgrades

Electricity meters belonging to Johannesburg city power will cease to operate beyond November 2024 unless they are upgraded City Power has said.

The municipal power company said it would be rolling out a programme to upgrade the prepaid meters.

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The utility spokesperson Isaac Mangena said residents should allow City Power staff to come inside their yards to upgrade the meters.

“City Power has intensified efforts to upgrade customers’ prepaid meters in the City of Johannesburg to ensure that they continue to function beyond 24 November 2024. Due to the old technology, all prepaid meters will stop dispensing electricity in November 2024, as credit tokens will run out of available numbers unless they are reset,” Mangena said.

Old prepaid meters will cease to function

Mangena said prepaid meters which are not upgraded will cease to work. The upgrades were part of the Token Identifier Programme (TID) which started last year, he said.

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“The TID programme is rolled out in all City Power’s areas of supply where authorised agents conduct audits, reset, and replace pre-paid meters at no cost to customers,” Mangena said.

He said electricity units found on the meter when it is replaced will be carried over to the new one.

“The local energy supplier appeals to customers to grant its team access to their properties when they are in their areas,” Mangena said.

How to identify City Power staff

According to Mangena the teams that will be doing the upgrades are easily identifiable and will be wearing yellow TID-branded bibs or T-shirts and carry valid ID cards which would contain their names and surnames as well as designation.

“The City’s power supplier is aware that criminals use counterfeit meter reading credentials to enter residential homes to rob unsuspecting customers,” he said.

 Mangena said to ensure that residents don’t fall prey to crime they could verify the TID agents’ credentials by calling the number reflected on their branded bibs or valid ID cards.

“As this service is provided at no cost, customers are cautioned not to pay for TID meter resetting,” he said.