Contractors installed new smart electricity meters at many houses in Secunda over the past two weeks and although it caused confusion among many residents, many also reckon it is better.
According to Ms Mariaan Chamberlain, DA councillor, the municipality installed about 4 000 smart meters.
In the case of a pre-paid meter, the contractors will take a photo of the units that residents have on their meters, send the photo to the municipality who will record the units and when the contractors are finished taking out the old meter and replacing it with a new smart meter, residents will get a code to reload the units they had on their old meter onto the new one.
Residents will also get a key pad that can be plugged in anywhere inside their house and it shows how many units they have.
Also read: Issues with installation of smart meters leave residents livid
With the key pad comes a sim card which residents can use to buy electricity.
If they buy electricity for the first time, they must buy at the municipality and ask them to unblock their sim cards so they can buy at other places or online as well.
Also read: New meters frustrate residents
With the smart meters, there is also no need for municipal employees to read meters.
The meter automatically sends the readings to a central point at the municipality.
Also read: Total chaos and confusion over pre-paid meter cut off by Govan Mbeki Municipality
According to Ms Chamberlain, the new meters will cost residents nothing.
Some residents complained that the contractors left their meter boxes open when they left, while others said their service was sufficient and friendly.
For free daily local news in the South, visit our sister newspapers Highvelder, Standerton Advertiser
For more news and interesting articles, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram
