Alex residents urged to embrace new smart meter installation
City Power rolls out a smart metre installation project in Alex to curb high rate of non-payment.
The MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Jack Sekwaila, and the CEO of City Power, Tshifularo Mashava, recently launched the first phase of a new smart meters installation project in Alexandra.
The first phase of the project will see more than 5 000 local businesses and households receiving new payable smart meter boxes.
Sekwaila urged residents of Alexandra to embrace the project and welcome project contractors into their homes to instal meters.
He said the project will assist City Power to ensure that unmetered customers have smart pre-paid meters that will enable them to buy electricity and assist the power utility to monitor and control load during the implementation of load-shedding.
“The aim of this project is to curb the high rate of non-payment for electricity services in the areas like Alexandra. We will be targeting both business and residential affluent and non-affluent customers for this rollout. The goal is to have 100% of meters in these areas vending by the end of the project,” Sekwaila said.
Tshifularo said City Power will spend R100m this financial year to roll out this project across the city. “This amount has been set for metering-related elements that include our stats meters.
“We also have the support from the provincial government on this matter. The premier made a pronouncement during Gauteng Energy Indaba that there should not be any illegal connections across the province and they are collaborating with us as a municipality to ensure that we successfully roll out smart meters.’’
Ward 105 councillor Tefo Raphadu, who had his smart meter installed in his house, said community members need to cooperate with City Power to form part of the solutions to challenges in their community as well as to benefit from this project.
“I am sending a message that it starts with us and we’re calling on all residents to form part of this project by paying for services that they use daily and being part of the solution to their problems we have,” added Raphadu.
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Smart metre rollout in Alex to start at councillors’ homes, says City Power
