Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck has asked residents of Johannesburg who are experiencing problems with their smart meters, to fill in his survey.
Since the City of Johannesburg started replacing old electricity meters in homes and businesses with smart meters, numerous complaints were made by residents varying from overpriced estimations to severe electric shocks.
“After an initial rollout of 34 000 meters earlier this year, smart meter issues are appearing on Facebook pages and being emailed to councillors in the northern [Johannesburg] suburbs,” said Truluck.
“So it seems that the City has not adequately addressed the problems already identified in the eastern suburbs. To make matters worse, the cell phone signals in many of the northern suburbs are very poor, which means that the signals emitted by smart meters [in these areas] will not be picked up by City Power.”
This problem, he claims, is particularly evident in Parkhurst, Victory Park, Craighall and Blairgowrie.
To determine the extent of problems with smart meters, Truluck designed an online questionnaire, and has asked residents who have experienced problems with their smart meters to complete it.
“This is a very important issue as the City will be rolling out smart and pre-paid meters to all of us soon. So, if there are problems with 50 000, imagine how many there will be after the rollout of 900 000 meters.”
He stressed that the survey is not for residents with general billing problems or for those with the old dial meters.
These residents must visit the Randburg Customer Service Centre in Blairgowrie to resolve their queries.
To complete Truluck’s questionnaire click here.
Details: Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck 072 238 2790 or environment@parkhurst.org.za, City Power 011 375 5555.
