Smart meters, not so smart

Although the thousands of meters being rolled out throughout the City were intended to address problems such as estimated readings, they appear to have created more problems for residents instead.

Ward 117 councillor, Tim Truluck, said he received hundreds of complaints from residents about huge bills received since installation and the lack of response by the city to specific complaints about the smart meters, despite numerous requests and promises to do so.

Craighall resident, Cindy Price, said after a smart meter was installed at her home, she received two bills in June – the first with three meter readings and the second with four meter readings.

Price said the bill was double the average amount that she would normally pay in winter. Fearing having her electricity and water cut off, Price said she paid the amount she usually paid hoping the billing would be fixed the following month.

To her surprise, she was again overcharged.

“I went to the Randburg municipal office and they sent out a technician who noted that three old meters hadn’t been disconnected and fixed the problem. I got a corrected bill with May, June and July added, subtracted and reworked,” she said.

Parkhurst resident, Brigitta O’Grady said she was a victim of estimated billing and incorrect charges despite having reported the problem.

City Power admitted to experiencing a few teething problems during the implementation of the project, but said the majority of the smart meters rolled out had “actual, accurate readings extracted from them”.

Managing director of City Power, Sicelo Xulum, said only seven percent of the smart meters rolled out had experienced problems including tampering and communication issues.