City Power is 99% complete with smart meter upgrades, encourages Alex residents to make sure they’re compliant

City Power has successfully achieved a 99% completion rate for the vending prepaid meter upgrades across its eight Service Delivery Centre (SDC) supply areas in Johannesburg, with just a few days remaining until the Token Identifier (TID) rollover project deadline.

City Power’s spokesperson Isaac Mangena said that the entity has increased its boots on the ground to reach the outstanding 1 061 customers across the city whose meters have yet to be rolled over before November 24.

Also read: City Power urges prepaid customers to complete meter upgrades before deadline

“We are confident that all vending customers’ meters will be fully upgraded by the deadline,” Mangena said. “We have, additionally, deployed more technicians and resources to our SDCs and our customer call centre to specifically address TID-related queries to ensure that no one is left behind.”

Thus far, Roodepoort, Reuven, Randburg, Lenasia, and the Inner City SDCs have achieved over 99.6% compliance, while Midrand stands at 99.31%, Hursthill at 99.44%, and the Alexandra SDC at 87.15%.

“We have successfully upgraded 141 630 out of 142 810 prepaid meters, achieving a project completion rate of 99%,” said Mangena. “There are only about 119 partially upgraded meters that are outstanding, and we encourage those customers to use the do it yourself (DIY) method at home to complete the upgrade.”

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By purchasing electricity units, customers with unconverted meters will receive three 20-digit token codes, the last of which is the unit token code. If all three token codes are accepted, the meter has been successfully upgraded, and the display will show a smiley face as confirmation.

Customers who have not upgraded from KRN1 to KRN2 will no longer be able to load units onto their meters after the cut-off date.

“The conversion from KRN1 to KRN2 is crucial for several reasons, including making sure that customers move away from old conventional meters to smart or semi-smart meters. These upgrades, similar to software upgrades that cellphones use, offer advanced features,” Mangena explained.

“The KRN2 meters come equipped with features that facilitate better monitoring and management of electricity usage. If a customer attempts to tamper with the meter, City Power will receive a signal and immediate action will be taken against that individual.”

Mangena said that tampering with essential infrastructure, like electricity meters, is a criminal offence that’s punishable with immediate power supply disconnection as a penalty. He also said that City Power has been disconnecting customers refusing to provide their technicians access to conduct meter audits and normalisation.

“Our goal is to ensure that all customers are properly metered and held accountable, ensuring that everyone contributes fairly to the cost of electricity usage,” Mangena said.

For customers who are unsure about the status of their prepaid meters, below are some of the methods to confirm:

• Receipt verification: After purchasing electricity units, check your receipt. If your prepaid meter has been converted, it will indicate KRN 2 underneath the token units.
• Contact our call centre: For immediate assistance, you can reach out to City Power’s call centre toll-free number on 0800 202 925. Our representatives are available to help you confirm the status of your meter.
• Visit our customer service centres: You are welcome to visit any of our customer service centres, where our staff will assist you in verifying your meter status.
• Key in the code: Key 1844 6744 0738 4377 2416 into the CIU of the meter.

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