City Power to replace old non-smart meters with new technology as part of Token Identification upgrade
Several Roodepoort suburbs are scheduled for replacement between March 24 and April 7.
City Power Roodepoort Service Delivery Centre (SDC) officials will be on the ground in the coming days to replace obsolete, faulty, and bypassed meters.
Beginning on March 24 the meter replacement drive will run until April 7, affecting roughly 750 customers. There will be no cost to City Power customers as the upgrade is in preparation for the token identifiers (TID) rollover project. The three-week period will focus on Kloofendal, Little Falls, Ruimsig, Quellerina, Goudrand, Whiteridge, Helderkruin, Florida Glen, Florida Hills, and Florida Park and will also involve the resetting of the meters to be TID-compliant.
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City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, explained, “We are rolling out this programme in phases to audit and normalise meters across the seven regions in the City of Joburg. Customers will be notified of the dates through communication with their local Councillors, community outreach programmes, and in the local media.
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The TID is necessary as the older meters will no longer accept credit tokens by November 2024. The programme will also assist City Power in streamlining their customer data to ensure unmetered customers have remote access, allow City Power to monitor and control system load and fight infrastructure abuse.
“We will disconnect any customer found to have tampered with the newly installed meters, or who has refused to reset the meter for TID compliance. Customers will then be charged a reconnection fee and recovery for the period of the loss,” stated Mangena.
“The customers that have already bought electricity units when the meters get changed will be refunded according to the units found on the meter. We have engaged with councillors who are supporting this programme,” he added.
City Power has asked for residents to assist by granting access to properties for the duration of the project. City Power is aware of the criminal abuse of their meter reading credentials so urges customers to be vigilant by checking the validity of identification cards with the following details:
• A card bearer’s name and surname
• A card bearer’s ID photo
• An expiry date. If the card is already expired, that bearer is not fully authorised to work on the City Power network
• The name of the company contracted to City Power
• No contractor is allowed to work with another person’s ID card
• Green ID cards are for meter readers and turquoise for meter maintenance or installation
If customers are unsure of the legitimacy of the installer, they should call City Power on 011 490 7553/7911 to verify the contractor’s credentials. City Power contact center and the various Service Delivery Centres (SDCs) customer desks will be ready to support customers.
