Town should brace for shocking increase on municipal accounts, electricity
It is that time of the year again where countless Middelburg residents experience heart palpitations due to municipal tariff increases which will be coming into effect from July 1.
Residents are warned that their municipal accounts will look drastically different at the end of July due to the increases.
Pre-paid customers must also note that from July 1, they will get much less units per rand than in June due to the increase.
The increases will be levied from July 1 to the end of June 2022, when the public will face new increases.
Annually there’s a lot of drama caused by the sharp increase on resident’s municipal accounts, while pre-paid customers question why they get less units for the same amount paid during the previous month.
Middelburg ratepayers will have to budget carefully for next month’s accounts, due to an expected sharp rise in rates.
The golden rule in electricity consumption still remains: “The less you use, the less you pay”.
A large portion of Middelburg is also still unaware that pre-paid electricity accounts are metered from the first of the month to the last of the month.
Furthermore, the electricity use is metered by a sliding tariff scale, which means that if there’s an increase in electricity consumption, which is normally the case in July during winter, there will be fewer units issued due to the sliding tariff scale.
The easiest way to explain the sliding scale tariff is this: If you have R1000 for electricity each month, the first R300 will place consumers in a low consumer block, the next R300 will put you into the medium consumption block, with the remaining R300 again pushing consumers into a higher consumption block.
For each block jump, less units will be issued. If you buy your monthly quota again before the first of the month, you will be in the highest consumption block and receive much less than you would if you bought on the first.
It’s good to only top up your pre-paid electricity before the first, in order to not fall in the higher consumption blocks.
Households on a monthly account will also be charged much more for higher consumption.
TAKE NOTE – Start planning your budget by adding the following increases on your current account:
• Electricity – Up 14.59% from July 1
• Water – Up 3% from July 1
• Refuse removal – Up 3.9% from July 1
• Sewerage – Up 3.9% from July 1
• Property tax – Up 3.9% from July 1.
