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As well as the Johannesburg city by-laws, City Power derive their responsibilities from several other national directives.
Picture: City Power
City Power have clarified its rights and responsibilities relating to the supply of electricity.
The entity recently stated that it would not be footing the bill for the replacement of a particular section of electrical infrastructure, prompting queries from residents.
City Power has since provided a detailed description of the sections of the installations and outlined the legislation that governs their interactions with electricity users.
City Power uses the South African National Standard (SANS) 10142 to define the sections that the service connection is divided into.
The service connection is made up of three parts: the point of connection, the point of metering, and the point of control.
The point of connection is where the service cable receives the electrical supply from the grid, and the point of metering is where the meter is installed.
“[The point of connection] is distinguished by a switching device and is usually rated above all other succeeding breakers on the service cable,” City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena explained to The Citizen.
“Meters form an integral part of the local authority’s equipment, and the consumer does not have access to or authority over this part of the service cable,” he added.
City Power stated in late April that customers would be responsible for the replacement cost of the final part of the service connection should it be damaged or stolen.
“The next and very important part is the consumer’s point of control. This section is sectionalised by a breaking device — circuit breaker or isolator,” said Mangena.
“These breakers are located on the property boundary, within a meter receptacle with the code name ME1/3in the City Power area of supply,” he explained.
From this point onward, the consumer is responsible for maintaining and carrying out any work on the service cable.
“In paid service connections, the applicant pays City Power for infrastructure up to the point of control. Consumers are responsible for supplying the point of control breaking device and its housing,” Mangena said.
He added a definition from SANS 10142, noting that a point of control could be a “point at which a consumer can, on or in any premises, switch off the electrical installation from the electricity supplied from the point of supply.”
Mangena said City Power’s responsibilities to its customers were grounded in four key documents.
As well as the City of Johannesburg by-laws, electricity supply is governed by Section 4 and 5 of the Electricity Regulation Act of 2006, the Municipal Systems Act of 2000 and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) National Regulatory Standards (NRS) 047,048 and 049.
Reliable and safe supply is covered by the city by-laws and NRS 048, while metering and billing are defined in the by-laws, NRS 047, and the Municipal Systems Act.
Fault response and maintenance are covered in NRS 047 and 049, with tariffs determined by Nersa and the Electricity Regulation Act.
Residents are allowed to install protective measures up to the point of control.
These measures include conduit pipes on private property, cable covers and trenched and buried cable routing at approved depths.
Residents are still required to report any damage immediately to City Power and must obtain written consent from City Power for any alterations that may affect municipal infrastructure.
Residents are prohibited from tampering with or working on cables outside their property or connecting to or altering City Power infrastructure without approval.
The installation of makeshift protection such as steel cages, barbed wire or brackets are also prohibited, unless previously arranged with City Power.
Replacing the point of control infrastructure is for the customer’s account and must be done by a certified electrician. No customer may repair infrastructure up to the point of control.
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