City Power contractors will work around the clock to upgrade non-smart meters across the City. This comes after the City’s power utility, City Power, announced it’s embarking on a programme to replace obsolete, faulty and bypassed meters at no cost ahead of the token identifiers (TID) rollover project. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the TID reset requires every non-smart meter to be replaced with new technology meters. These old technology meters will stop accepting credit tokens by November next year as credit tokens will run out of available numbers.
“The TID compliance resetting will ensure that the meters are not locked out come November 2024, when the digits for recharging tokens will run out,” Mangena explains.
For now, the process will be free, but in the future, City Power will disconnect any customer found to have tampered with the newly installed meters or refused to reset the meter for TID compliance.
Customers will then be charged a reconnection fee and recovery for the period of the loss.
This week, the programme to replace obsolete, faulty, and bypassed meters will commence in Naturena, Ormonde View, Ormonde, and Randburg and will run until 30 June 2023.
These audits will also involve the resetting of the meters to be TID-compliant.
City Power is rolling out the programme in phases to audit and normalise meters across the seven regions of the City of Johannesburg, with other areas to be visited in the coming few months.
“The programme will assist City Power to clean up its data, ensure unmetered customers, especially in non-affluent areas, have smart meters, which will enable them to buy electricity, and assist City Power to monitor and control the load as we battle with loadshedding,” says Mangena.
It also boasts benefits for residents and convenience. Smart meters are user-friendly, a transparent way of managing energy consumption, and customers will be able to remotely send their meter readings through eJoburg without having a City Power contractor come to their properties to take meter readings.
To keep residents abreast of upgrades in their area, City Power will share all updates on social media, in local media, and with local councillors. City Power will also conduct community meetings in various areas to raise awareness about the importance of normalise customers’ meters ahead of the TID rollover.
Mangena says the entity appeals to residents for cooperation and to allow officials access to their properties during the implementation of this task, as these audits will be vital in the preparation for the TID rollover as other meters cannot be reprogrammed.
He adds that City Power is aware of the growing trend among criminals using counterfeit meter reading credentials to gain entry into residential homes and rob unsuspecting customers.
City Power urges customers to be vigilant at all times and only allow City Power contractors with a valid card with the following details.
- A card bearer’s name and surname
- A card bearer’s ID photo
- An expiry date (if the card has already expired, that bearer is not authorised to work on the City Power network)
- The name of the company contractor to the City Power
- No contractor can work with another person’s ID card
- Green ID cards are for meter readers, and turquoise cards are for meter maintenance or installation
For more information, contact the City Power contact centre on 0860 56 2874 (select option 2) or keep a close eye on City Power’s social media platforms for updates.
Written by Brümilda Swartbooi
27/03/2023