City replaces conventional meters

The City of Ekurhuleni is phasing out old electricity meters and replacing them with new technologically advanced pre-payment meters to clamp down on illegal electricity connections, electricity theft and meter tampering.

“The new pre-payment meters also have great convenience to the customer as it limits consumption to the value of what the customer has loaded into the meter, allowing for better household budgeting and planning,” said CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini.

“These meters have a customer interphase unit (CIU), commonly referred to as a keypad, to enable communication between the user and the meter.

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“The keypad displays available credit on the meter at the point it was last connected and updated.”

He added the new unit plugs into any normal socket in the house for easy access to the customer, whilst the pre-payment meter is installed outside the house.

The rollout of the pre-payment meters is done through electrical meter management contractors who are allocated to specific areas.

The contractors will not only install the pre-payment meter but will also ensure the meters are operational and educate the customer on the basic functions of the keypad and how to reload the meter.

The complete process of changing and swapping the meters takes between 30 and 60 minutes.

During this time, there will not be electricity. However, as soon as the process has been completed, the electricity will be immediately restored.

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The meter comes with 40 units pre-loaded, which will be debited with the first purchase of electricity.

“There is no difference between the approved rates for a conventional or pre-payment meter. Both meters are calibrated to exactly the same SANS specification,” said Dlamini.

All conventional meters will be replaced.

Should a customer find it inconvenient to replace the meter when the contractor is onsite, the customer can propose a different date, during office hours, within seven days of the initial contact, and the team will replace the meter.

If a customer refuses the contractor to do the replacement after adequate opportunity is given, the electricity supply will be disconnected and a notice, according to the city’s approved schedule of tariffs, be issued.

For the safety of customers, the contractors have appointment letters to hand over to show to the customers at the point of contact, outlining both the purpose of the visit and the project.

Customers can call the following numbers to verify the identity of contractors:

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• ZRW Mechanika on 010 449 3645 for Edenvale, Kempton Park and Thembisa.

• Enyane Solutions on 011 873 4042 for Benoni, Brakpan, Nigel and Springs.

• EMC Associates on 010 023 3411 for Alberton, Boksburg and Germiston.