By Craig Kotze
ELM this week abruptly and without warning ended an interim arrangement with service provider BXCSA after the company last week ceased operations due to non-payment by the municipality.
In what indicated a complete replacement of the present smart meter programme, ELM also said in a brief unsigned notice that “notices would be sent out for smart meter replacements once the roll-out commences”.
No formal announcement was made on a new service provider.
At time of publication it was unclear whether ELM would now replace all smart meters or bridge /bypass them officially or replace them with a new product. No further information was given.
The municipality also apologised “for any inconvenience”.
However a BXCSA spokeswoman when asked for comment said vending had and was proceeding normally without disruptions from Friday. She added that stand-by call-outs since Friday were the responsibility of ELM.
“The whole system is like a self driving car which is steering itself. Its up to ELM now to ensure that things go smoothly,” said the BXCSA spokeswoman.
But independent smart meter experts fear that should the municipality bypass smart meters it will reduce their revenue considerably as monthly turnover during summer and winter months is approximatelyR6m and R8,5m respectively, on the smart meter system alone.
“Any action by ELM to stop vending to consumers will lead to large scale-power interruptions and possible vandalising of meter boxes and equipment. It would also show a total disregard of the rights and expectations of ELM consumers,” one expert told Ster and Vaalweekblad.
The unexpected ELM step was again slammed by business which has long called on ELM to communicate more effectively on its actions and policies with the public and stakeholders and to pay its service providers as agreed.
The ELM move came on Monday this week after BXCSA on Friday last week first published a notice saying it had ceased operations due to non-payment by the local authority.
Some months earlier, BXCSA had also terminated its contract with ELM due to non-payment over a number of years and following extensive court proceedings still under way.
After BXCSA originally terminated the contract, ELM approached the company and requested that it continue providing smart meter services in a transitional handover process for three months.
However, this arrangement has now also been broken by ELM due to non-payment, according to a BXCSA notice informing the public of developments.
A BXCSA spokesperson said this week the company would do nothing that could hurt business and residents and would leave things in running order. However, all operations were “in the hands of ELM now”.
In its unsigned notice of 5 August 2019 ELM requested consumers to keep proof of power purchases made on or from Friday 2 August.
Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) President Stefan Olivier slammed the latest move by ELM on smart meters saying it had again failed to communicate effectively and had created great confusion.
“This again shows that ELM is not customer-centric and simply does not care what damage it does to the community or the economy,” Olivier said.