Eskom’s new plan to punish solar users
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/569625-eskoms-new-plan-to-punish-solar-users.html

Eskom is making the finance case to add an additional battery add 8 more panels and go from 20% grid usage to 0% grid usage.
Then I disconnect and go 100% offgrid.
Problem solved.

1 hour ago, TaliaB said:

Eskom’s new plan to punish solar users

Looks like not only solar users, if you are like my mom, use less than 300kWh/month, since she's frugal, no solar, then they'll punish her for this, this is the kind of kak that will cause power shortages again, since there is no incentive to consume less, the more you use the less the price per kWh, I wish these wombats would go out of business...

What does this boil down to? Eskom are proposing a fixed fee for connecting or increasing those fixed fees. 

This isn't really news, despite MBB's sensationalist headline. Eskom and municipalities were all saying during the last round of negotiations that there had to be a two way split for all categories of user. A fee for supplying the service, and a fee for actual useage. All that's happening now is that we are getting more detail of how Eskom are thinking.

Johannesburg post-paid users already pay a grand a month (round figures) for their connection, and then pay on an IBT for their actual usage. This year we saw COJ finally implement the connection charges for pre-paid users, after they'd talked about it for years (in one case they actually approved it, then immediately revoked it as part of their relief package during the pandemic). 

@Kalahari Meerkat is correct that people who don't use a lot of electricity will get harder. Even if they adjust the tariffs downwards (well, a guy can dream at the start of the week, surely?) the increase in connection charges will likely push up the overall bill. We have seen this in Johannesburg with the connection fee on the pre-paid meters - it is hitting truly poor people hard (though in some cases those people could be on the special tariff for low earning people if they only applied). 

Currently COJ make use of IBTs for "low" users (IE indigent folks) as follows: 
0-350 kWh the tariff is actually reduced
350-500 you pay the same as "high" users (EG me)
> 500 you actually pay more (which will recover money from people who register as indigent but aren't, and/or sends a coded message that maybe you aren't a low user  because why are you using so much).

IBTs are a good thing because they encourage people to be thoughtful about how they use electricity. OK, the better off you are, the less this hurts you because you won't notice, but you are still paying for your excesses.

2 hours ago, system32 said:

Eskom is making the finance case to add an additional battery add 8 more panels and go from 20% grid usage to 0% grid usage.
Then I disconnect and go 100% offgrid.
Problem solved.

 Yip 100% agreed.
Summer already off-grid now for 3 months and using the savings to add to my battery fund so hopefully by the time winter arrives I have 2 extra batteries

3 hours ago, system32 said:

Eskom is making the finance case to add an additional battery add 8 more panels and go from 20% grid usage to 0% grid usage.
Then I disconnect and go 100% offgrid.
Problem solved.

Indeed. If you are not connected to the grid then you are master of your own ship. I wish I had the cash (or that I'd be working long enough to take a long term view).

There is a school of thought that says in that in an urban/suburban area going off grid is not wise because if you sell, purchasers will factor in the cost of a whole new connection, or decide it's going to be too much bother and take too much time.

At the moment my electricity bill is fixed by the current tariffs at R400 a month. Staying connected, right now, is the cheapest option available to me.

1 hour ago, Bobster. said:

This isn't really news, despite MBB's sensationalist headline

Agree 100% - this plan is certainly not new, and I have not seen any evidence that it is designed to "punish solar users".  My understanding is that ESKOM is behind international best practice in their slow transition to fixed monthly changes.

My own example: a few neighbours and I share a long 11kV line that is often damaged during storms.  I cancelled my Landrate account 5 years ago (about R5000 per month fixed fee) and went with solar and a prepaid connection (as essentially a no-hassle generator).  Works wonderfully, but my ESKOM usage is now about R2000 p.a. - certainly not enough to cover my share of even their maintenance costs.  You are all cross-subsidising me (thank you) but I would have thought that you would welcome ESKOM's efforts to level the playing field.

 

Edited November 18, 20241 yr by Calvin

19 hours ago, Calvin said:

international best practice

what a load, this is really about extracting the maximum from the customer, aka, bend over, they'll service you....

2 hours ago, Kalahari Meerkat said:

what a load, this is really about extracting the maximum from the customer, aka, bend over, they'll service you....

I love a really well reasoned intellectual discussion.  Guess I will have to look elsewhere.

1 hour ago, Calvin said:

I love a really well reasoned intellectual discussion.  Guess I will have to look elsewhere.

Not sure what you are implying... but lets look at your case specifically, how many are "a few neighbours" and how long is "a long 11kV line" and what does "often damaged" mean, I doubt the line is damaged, I'd imagine the breaker in the distribution location that feeds your 11kV line is not auto resetting and needs manual intervention, I'm fairly certain Eishkom is NOT coming around replacing the 11kV line or too many of the transformers, although if one of these is hit directly by lightning, they could let out "the magic smoke" or release their insulating properties between the windings...

This brings me to the main question, what are the *real* costs in providing the connection to a customer, their assumption seems to be if they had to put in the transmission line from scratch as well as the transformers and have this amortised over 5 years or so, which is nonsense, since the 22kV line here, where I am has been in place for over 30 years and has never been replaced, sure, since we've been here, I believe they have replaced 2 transformers (not our one, which they can now remove and re-use elsewhere), on this line from Kleinbegin, I believe they have around 100 customers paying far more than realistic pricing.

In fact, lets see what preventative maintenance they do do. In January or February 2011 we had a major lightning storm and as per usual, Eishkom soiled its collective shorts and we had no power until next day around 09:00. All of a sudden my noise floor on SW radio was through the roof, I complained to them, 2 days later they sent someone to investigate and even though I could demonstrate and convince they chap, they didn't really take it all that serious... move on with me getting more and more cheesed off with this incompetent lot and 5 weeks later, no thunderstorm, just a power failure... dial on 36 hours and the power was back and all quiet on the SW radio again... the chap that came to attend, but not fix the reason for the complaint initially, came by a few days later to check up and lo and behold, they had an HT pylon burn down to the ground due to the constant arcing between one or more than one of the phases and presumably the tower/earth, this would have:

1. caused a lot of RF interference, which I had

2. wasted a boatload of energy, which is being paid by whom? (Oh yes, the end users that are paying more than is reasonable.)

3. demonstrated to me that their "maintenance fee" at the time was a joke and not spent on what it should have been spent on...

Edited November 19, 20241 yr by Kalahari Meerkat
grammar and mistooks... :-)

Now to add to this mix, most people probably don't need an 80A feed from Eishkom, does anyone know what, assuming its available, a 40A or even a 20A feed would cost? Certainly for most Solar users a 20A feed would probably do, heck 4kW is not too far from our maximum peak usage, which never occurs when the sun don't shine, but we are off grid and I will remain this way, just would be interesting to see whether an option to remain connected with less of a feed is an option...

On 2024/11/18 at 9:23 AM, Bobster. said:

What does this boil down to? Eskom are proposing a fixed fee for connecting or increasing those fixed fees. 

This isn't really news, despite MBB's sensationalist headline. Eskom and municipalities were all saying during the last round of negotiations that there had to be a two way split for all categories of user. A fee for supplying the service, and a fee for actual useage. All that's happening now is that we are getting more detail of how Eskom are thinking.

Johannesburg post-paid users already pay a grand a month (round figures) for their connection, and then pay on an IBT for their actual usage. This year we saw COJ finally implement the connection charges for pre-paid users, after they'd talked about it for years (in one case they actually approved it, then immediately revoked it as part of their relief package during the pandemic). 

@Kalahari Meerkat is correct that people who don't use a lot of electricity will get harder. Even if they adjust the tariffs downwards (well, a guy can dream at the start of the week, surely?) the increase in connection charges will likely push up the overall bill. We have seen this in Johannesburg with the connection fee on the pre-paid meters - it is hitting truly poor people hard (though in some cases those people could be on the special tariff for low earning people if they only applied). 

Currently COJ make use of IBTs for "low" users (IE indigent folks) as follows: 
0-350 kWh the tariff is actually reduced
350-500 you pay the same as "high" users (EG me)
> 500 you actually pay more (which will recover money from people who register as indigent but aren't, and/or sends a coded message that maybe you aren't a low user  because why are you using so much).

IBTs are a good thing because they encourage people to be thoughtful about how they use electricity. OK, the better off you are, the less this hurts you because you won't notice, but you are still paying for your excesses.

We have a flawed system in many ways and the flaws were not only in the inability to provide energy to meet the needs of the population but also in how energy is being billed and sold, coupled with all the free loaders and non paying customer. So any adjustments to the system post individuals finding their own fixes feels like a direct attack on them. Together with the fact the municipalities are making selling back to the grid so unattractive  for solar users who can it almost feels like you can’t win with solar. Every utility has different types of cost to manage fixed cost - installation,  maintenance  as well as RnD and the recurring costs. If it needs to function properly billing also has to be segmented along the same lines. Sadly enough every fixed cost or tax system is regressive ie those who use the least pay more. If you want to benefit more from fixed cost just use more. Hopefully with these changes will come more international good practices ie time of use billing and better options for feeding into grid to serve as incentives for pple to adopt renewables.

1 hour ago, Kory said:

We have a flawed system in many ways and the flaws were not only in the inability to provide energy to meet the needs of the population but also in how energy is being billed and sold, coupled with all the free loaders and non paying customer. So any adjustments to the system post individuals finding their own fixes feels like a direct attack on them. Together with the fact the municipalities are making selling back to the grid so unattractive  for solar users who can it almost feels like you can’t win with solar. Every utility has different types of cost to manage fixed cost - installation,  maintenance  as well as RnD and the recurring costs. If it needs to function properly billing also has to be segmented along the same lines. Sadly enough every fixed cost or tax system is regressive ie those who use the least pay more. If you want to benefit more from fixed cost just use more. Hopefully with these changes will come more international good practices ie time of use billing and better options for feeding into grid to serve as incentives for pple to adopt renewables.

The apparent hot issue is fixed fees for a connection. I did some shopping around for electricity deals at the last address I lived at in the UK. Because now they have a system with independent generation and independents who deliver to your home and bill you. So you can shop around for deals on the distribution end of things.

So, with the "most awarded" supplier in the UK and on any kind of package - even 7 days pre-paid - there is a fixed fee, per day, about R11 per day give or take a little on exactly which package you buy, and reduced a bit more if you sign a 24 month contract. 

So those charges are a thing. I don't know if they are "best practice". "Best practice" too often is "that's what they do in [some other country]". But to me it makes sense. I made all the representations I could against the introduction of fixed fees for pre-paid meters in Johannesburg because that hurts my wallet. But honestly, if I were the them, I would probably have reached the same conclusion.

My neighbour pays about a grand a month in fixed fees before he uses any electricity. Until July I was paying exactly zero fixed fees, yet the City provides us with the same service and at the same level. He pays, I don't. Oh, and I do get service, including a new meter when my previous one went pop one day. They  first did a "temporary restoration" (IE they bridge the faulty meter), then two days later they installed a new meter, did all the registration, gave me five units pre-loaded and hung around until I had purchased a token and loaded it. But I am not paying a fee just for being connected like my neighbour is. But I pay the City exactly zip a month for having a connection that they have to maintain - or until July I did. Now they get something each month for me having a connection. Apart from post-paid users effectively subsidising pre-paid users, City Power get no money from me for them to provide and maintain a connection. Something had to give.

COJ also do have TOU tariffs. That's available to anybody who wants it. But there are costs, notably an even higher fixed charged per month. They split the day into high, medium and low usage periods, with different charges for each period. You have to figure out how to play the game to your best advantage. The fees for all periods are higher in the winter. 

I understand why utilities do these things. and that they have to react as useage patterns change. When I installed solar in 2019 it was a novelty where I live. I think there was one other house in the whole suburb with panels on the roof. Now there are lots. So CP is losing out, especially with smart arses like me who have the ideal combination of pre-paid and solar. They have to adjust their strategy. At the moment they can only do that once a year. Unlike these independent operators overseas.

In the UK the guys who do the generation sell kWh on an exchange. The guys who do the distribution at the other end go shopping on that same exchange. So prices can fluctuate, sometimes on a daily basis. The government in the UK can't fix prices, but they do try to put in some relief so that your energy bill has a cap (though I suspect you have to pay first, get the relief later). They also give relief to low income households (COJ have special tariffs for low-income households).

I have family in Spain. There, similarly, generation into the grid and distribution from the grid to the home is privatised, and electricity is traded on an exchange and prices vary. And sometimes they vary A LOT. A couple of years ago my step-son got a nasty surprise when his bill tripled from month to month. He hadn't, that he could see, changed his pattern of useage very much (EG he always runs the dishwasher in the early morning when electricity is cheaper). Also the consumption on his bill was not very different from the previous month. When he queried it he was told it was because of price fluctuations. 

So what is "best practice" is not best for everybody. Eskom and the municipalities want to go for a fixed fee per month because that's how utilities overseas are operating to try to get fairer billing (and to keep themselves liquid). This is not necessarily best for the consumer who, at best, grudgingly pays up. Also electricity is still cheap here. My best package I could get in the UK would see me paying about five rand per kWh (if they tried that in COK there would be no end of WhatsApp messages, Facebook posts, and calls to morning radio chat shows). On the flip side, what they call "poor" in England is nothing like what we call poor or "indigent" here. So our utilities have to consider how they can give the indigent some sort of supply because they flat out cannot afford the default COJ package.

One last thing about this two component billing. Most muncipalities have been doing this for years. COJ has the highest fixed fees in the country (when I said "a grand" above, I was not being hyperbolic, that's what it costs). COCTs fixed charges are substantially less. Yet for the theoretical average home, electricity bills are significantly higher in COCT than in COJ. COCT, for the same theoretical average household, is 25% more than in Durban, and Durban is not even the cheapest in the country.

Caveat: This assumes the utility is able to provide you 30kWh every day. Your chances of that are higher in Cape Town than in Durban.
 

On 2024/11/19 at 10:48 AM, Kalahari Meerkat said:

Now to add to this mix, most people probably don't need an 80A feed from Eishkom, does anyone know what, assuming its available, a 40A or even a 20A feed would cost? Certainly for most Solar users a 20A feed would probably do, heck 4kW is not too far from our maximum peak usage, which never occurs when the sun don't shine, but we are off grid and I will remain this way, just would be interesting to see whether an option to remain connected with less of a feed is an option...

One year the COJ draft budget proposed a reduced tariff for households that would agree to a 20A main breaker being fitted. This was part of a package of concessions to try to reduce the burden on low earning customers (which, they hoped, would lead to a drop in illegal connections). But the whole relief package got canned in the budget that was finally passed. A pity, because the original provided real relief for the poorest of us, and also allowed householders to enter into a deal whereby they could accept a reduced supply in return for a lower tariff. But in all the horse trading that followed, all those interesting ideas got canned.

I'm guessing they have these big breakers for people who have hobbies that involve welding, or to allow overhead for those moments when the oven is on, the geyser kicks in and somebody needs to blow dry their hair. So probably somebody did a thumbsuck many decades ago and said "60 amps should be the default". And so we live with that.

2 hours ago, Kory said:

coupled with all the free loaders and non paying customer.

I don't know what happens elsewhere, but here in COJ they are going after illegal connections and defaulters with a will. Last year they cut off a whole shopping mall in Lenasia. Last week - this is a bit gruesome to think about - they cut the supply to a mortuary that was 6 million in the red. They have cut off hotels, residential estates, Telkom and SAPO offices as well as houses in poor areas. They also go into the areas where there are illegal connections, but this is problematic.

A couple of months ago they went through the informal settlement that has sprung up in Kya Sands, removing not just the lines supplying the dwellings, but substations, and the main trunking. But they said that this will all be reconnected within a week, and they predicted a spike in cable theft. Both of those things happened as whoever is supplying electricity to those shacks replenished their stock of cable by the only means they have (other than paying City Power employees in warehouses to look the other way). 

Edited November 21, 20241 yr by Bobster.
Sppeling

Just now, Bobster. said:

I don't know what happens elsewhere, but here in COJ they are going after illegal connections and defaulters with a will.

The flip side of this coin is that sometimes they get it wrong. There was a dispute between the City and a particular business. The dispute started when a faulty meter was replaced. Thereafter the business ran as usual but their bill escalated - or that's what they say. The City, of course, had a different version of the story.

Everybody played hard ball and the matter ended up in court. The first thing the judge asked for was an audit trail from the City so that the exact amount of the debt could be quantified. They couldn't provide that because their internal systems are in a mess. The judge found for the business, ordered City Power to remove the debt from their records, and also hit them for costs.

On 2024/11/18 at 9:59 AM, Bobster. said:

Indeed. If you are not connected to the grid then you are master of your own ship. I wish I had the cash (or that I'd be working long enough to take a long term view).

There is a school of thought that says in that in an urban/suburban area going off grid is not wise because if you sell, purchasers will factor in the cost of a whole new connection, or decide it's going to be too much bother and take too much time.

At the moment my electricity bill is fixed by the current tariffs at R400 a month. Staying connected, right now, is the cheapest option available to me.

Hey Bobster, I hope you don't mind the question - I know from reading another thread you've had many dealings with the whole COJ SSEG process - what are your thoughts and in so much the info you can share with regards to implications, costs you might be aware of and therefore paperwork involved in not having any electrical supply at all? I'm on Prepaid.

I've been told, provided info, bits and pieces of nonsense side chatter and various 'scenarios' ranging from they'll pickup that I'm not using and or buying any credits and send the City Power Gestapo to see you've not done something illegal (which I've not so then what?), to "its not allowed"; to you have to have a connection to your house as part of the municipal bylaws (I've never actually seen that exact wording) to it costs +-R2100 fill in a form at city power offices and they will remove the meter and deregister it from your erf/stand number; to you cannot sell your house along with many many others.

If I'm self sufficient there is no law that I'm aware of that says I have to buy power from the incumbent government SOE or any IPP. Your thoughts?

In my scenario by the end of this month, through a transfer switch, which currently interrupts my incoming city power and switches to my diesel generator, I will for all intents no longer be connected to City Power at all when I move my transfer switch to Generator only. I will be my own "utility" island if I may call it that. I wont be back feeding both from it physically being impossible i.e. no physical connection to the grid and I'm not interested in getting cents on the rand, for my capital expense to feed back into the grid. So my system will pose no hazard upstream to utility workers or my neighbours.

I've slowly built out my system since 2022 first with Inverter and storage and the generator I already had. I now have a fair sized array of 8kw with I hope, all the best of the scenarios, like no shading, facing perfectly north, on a 30degree slope etc. Its having some final work done. An 8kw inverter; 12kw+ of storage and onsite the generator room with a 6.5kva diesel generator and enough diesel to run for 1-2 weeks and indefinitely if I had to. (1.3ltr per/h for 5kw or +- 80% generator load), This will replace for me my City power feed by choice. I can hear the keyboard warriors raging, typing furiously that electricity is cheaper than diesel - but is it really? 😑 - it serves my end goal - that's all that matters.

I will use Solar during the day, storage to take me through the night and if needed on a poor generation day(s) top up the batteries or cross support the load with the generator only if needed, maybe 1-2hrs in a day, a few days a month - the last step will be automating the generator coming online and going offline based on time of day, load demands vs peak solar output vs current load as well as percentage of storage left before heading into sunset - the goal being to finish as close to or at 100% SOC- my December hobby project.

I share others sentiment that all they are doing with all the nonsense they're dreaming up is making the financial case for me to add another battery maybe some solar in my case thereby saving me more diesel and service costs on my generator - the way I see it - there is no scenario for me and I refer to only me, where I need 'services' in this case power any longer, soon enough, if I have my way I wont need water either - they know this day is coming hard and fast - those that can sort themselves out - and those that cannot, well they can't afford to pay the ever increasing costs - its a lose lose situation for them - I pay large taxes, in the form of company, personal, food, rates and fuel levies taxes to name just the most common ones - sorry I benefit from none of them - I'm older and very much too jaded now later in my albeit mid-life to adopt the "its for the greater good of all my countryman" argument or perspective anymore.

I'm not 100% sure about your school of thought about if you sell, then the purchaser might factor in a new connection etc. I don't suggest you're wrong, but I'd suggest another school of thought in that regard - that there is the right kind of house for the right kind of buyer - I know I can find a buyer that wants the freedom from utilities to a large extent, and the guarantee of their own clean water supply - that's a whole other interesting discussion.

As always your thoughts and anyone else's perspective is always welcome.

Edited November 21, 20241 yr by TheMafiaMan - NotMuffinMan

1 hour ago, TheMafiaMan - NotMuffinMan said:

Hey Bobster, I hope you don't mind the question - I know from reading another thread you've had many dealings with the whole COJ SSEG process - what are your thoughts and in so much the info you can share with regards to implications, costs you might be aware of and therefore paperwork involved in not having any electrical supply at all? I'm on Prepaid.

I've been told, provided info, bits and pieces of nonsense side chatter and various 'scenarios' ranging from they'll pickup that I'm not using and or buying any credits and send the City Power Gestapo to see you've not done something illegal (which I've not so then what?), to "its not allowed"; to you have to have a connection to your house as part of the municipal bylaws (I've never actually seen that exact wording) to it costs +-R2100 fill in a form at city power offices and they will remove the meter and deregister it from your erf/stand number; to you cannot sell your house along with many many others.

If I'm self sufficient there is no law that I'm aware of that says I have to buy power from the incumbent government SOE or any IPP. Your thoughts?

In my scenario by the end of this month, through a transfer switch, which currently interrupts my incoming city power and switches to my diesel generator, I will for all intents no longer be connected to City Power at all when I move my transfer switch to Generator only. I will be my own "utility" island if I may call it that. I wont be back feeding both from it physically being impossible i.e. no physical connection to the grid and I'm not interested in getting cents on the rand, for my capital expense to feed back into the grid. So my system will pose no hazard upstream to utility workers or my neighbours.

I've slowly built out my system since 2022 first with Inverter and storage and the generator I already had. I now have a fair sized array of 8kw with I hope, all the best of the scenarios, like no shading, facing perfectly north, on a 30degree slope etc. Its having some final work done. An 8kw inverter; 12kw+ of storage and onsite the generator room with a 6.5kva diesel generator and enough diesel to run for 1-2 weeks and indefinitely if I had to. (1.3ltr per/h for 5kw or +- 80% generator load), This will replace for me my City power feed by choice. I can hear the keyboard warriors raging, typing furiously that electricity is cheaper than diesel - but is it really? 😑 - it serves my end goal - that's all that matters.

I will use Solar during the day, storage to take me through the night and if needed on a poor generation day(s) top up the batteries or cross support the load with the generator only if needed, maybe 1-2hrs in a day, a few days a month - the last step will be automating the generator coming online and going offline based on time of day, load demands vs peak solar output vs current load as well as percentage of storage left before heading into sunset - the goal being to finish as close to or at 100% SOC- my December hobby project.

I share others sentiment that all they are doing with all the nonsense they're dreaming up is making the financial case for me to add another battery maybe some solar in my case thereby saving me more diesel and service costs on my generator - the way I see it - there is no scenario for me and I refer to only me, where I need 'services' in this case power any longer, soon enough, if I have my way I wont need water either - they know this day is coming hard and fast - those that can sort themselves out - and those that cannot, well they can't afford to pay the ever increasing costs - its a lose lose situation for them - I pay large taxes, in the form of company, personal, food, rates and fuel levies taxes to name just the most common ones - sorry I benefit form none of them - I'm older and very much too jaded now later in my albeit mid-life to adopt the "its for the greater good of all my countryman" argument or perspective anymore.

I'm not 100% sure about your school of thought about if you sell, then the purchaser might factor in a new connection etc. I don't suggest you're wrong, but I'd suggest another school of thought in that regard - that there is the right kind of house for the right kind of buyer - I know I can find a buyer that wants the freedom from utilities to a large extent, and the guarantee of their own clean water supply - that's a whole other interesting discussion.

As always your thoughts and anyone else's perspective is always welcome.

OK. I went the SSEG registration route because I believe that one day the City will start enforcing it. Actually it has been in the regulations - though not well publicised - for years now. At present they are allowing retrospective registrations, but playing strictly by the under-publicised regulations, you are supposed to register and then install. Plus my installer arranged a good deal for his clients. 

As regards the process, I can only say good things about the company that did the registration: Pure Energy Consulting. They made a field visit, got some details from the installer, asked me to sign a letter appointing them as my proxy and then did it all: The schematic, the sign off by an engineer, everything. They did not rubber stamp the application, they did apply all the regulations and I was found to be lacking in one regard: Warning labels. They supplied these and affixed them in the right place (in some cases they have to be aligned with the relevant breaker).

Anyway, I am not off grid. I retain a connection to City Power. My own position on this is that if I am connected to City Power then they have a legitmate interest in my PV system - because it is connected to their grid. Especially if I want to feed back. And I can't have my bread buttered both sides: If I say I want to be off-grid, they are entitled to remove the cables supplying my property. Well what do I want those for? 

So I remain connected to their grid. I could ask to be disconnected, but I have not. So I must play by their rules.

I do get regular visits from City Power. These started soon after I had solar installed. My purchase per month dropped significantly and this must have raised a red flag somewhere. They want to be sure that I am not bridging the meter or doing anything else dodgy. They have servitude on my property (it's in the title deeds. Telkom and Jhb Water have servitude too). I don't mind. They are always quick about their business and pleasant to deal with. Words like "Gestapo" do not come to my mind. Maybe I've been lucky, but I must have had at least a dozen guys from City Power look at my meter by now (in one case it was replaced) and it's always been cordial.

I could beef my system up a bit. I'd have to re-register - or wave City Power goodbye. Also it is going to cost a non-trivial amount of money when I currently pay the City R400 per month because I'm on prepaid. That's a price I'm prepared to pay to be able to use their grid when the weather is bad and my panels don't produce enough PV.

SSEG registration involves a visit by one of the City's own engineers. Again Pure Energy oversaw all of this for me. Very good service. The one thing I did not want was to stand in queues all day. I don't deal with that very well. Pure Energy took all of that away from me. The City's engineer is mostly concerned with safety issues (including labelling), and also how long your system takes to reconnect when the power is restored (they want to see at least 60 seconds pass before it reconnects). 

Anyway, if somebody does come out to look at my meter, sees the panels (as others before have) and starts asking questions then I am chillaxed. I have a letter from City Power, confirming that my system meets all their requirements and thanking me for being green. 

Edited November 21, 20241 yr by Bobster.
Grammar

I see that City Power wants R30k for an application to install solar on their grid. I won't do that. 

Paying CP (and Eskom) for all my energy needs to fund their mismanagement... I won't do that either.

So, here is my plan: have a changeover switch like you would have for a generator and run your essential loads off-grid. Heck, I think I am going to start with just running my pool pump in summer. I think CoCT requires off-grid systems to be registered but not sure of CP.