Extract below for info and discussion. I hope I'm wrong or over-hyping that impact, but I'm just imagining a train at the end of the tunnel.

This is from the Eskom tariff doc, which has been updated with the restructured rates approved by NERSA on 18 February 2025.

For tariffs appliable from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 for non-local authority supplies, and 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 for local authority supplies.

As discussed in other threads, the goal is to move toward a fixed-fee portion, and time-of-use tariffs for residential solar users. This will become effective right in the middle of the high-demand season, when the peak tariff per kWh will be R8.13 per kWh. That is not a typo.

For many business users this type of tariff may be an everyday thing or they work around it. I'm guessing most everyday residential owners of grid-tied systems are not ready for it.

If the changeover is anything like what happened when Nelson Mandela Bay Metro moved users to TOU tariffs, it could catch a lot of unsuspecting solar users with big bills come July and August, basically overnight, on a national scale. That's if you aren't changing your TOU settings to run exclusively from battery during peak hours, or if you don't have enough battery backup to cover cooking all the way from the evening, with enough left over for the morning rush (alternatively schedule a battery recharge from grid during the off-peak time). And keep your non-essentials like geysers, etc. on timers, away from operating during peak times if you can help it.

 

Edited February 26, 20251 yr by GreenFields

Madness   ☝️  - comrades must eat they say!!   🤨

Time to get more panels & batteries

Seems there is a paragraph missing:

22. Homeflex penalties:

The following penalties shall apply to each POD:

1. Per month:

1.1 A proportional penalty each and every time that Eskom fails to deliver Power at the POD.

1.2 For each and every failure - forfeit the R/POD/day rate in totality.

1.3 Pay additional penalties in relation to the Stage of Load Shedding: E.g. Stage 6 - applicable penalty is 6 x R/POD/day rate.

1.4 Penalties may not be used to offset Usage at the POD.

2. Per Year:

2.1 Should the Utility fail to provide a 24 x 7 x 52 service at the POD, it will be incur additional penalties as follows:

2.1.1 R10,000 if any failure occurs during this period.

2.1.2 This amount is to compensate for long term effects of any loadshedding, e.g. replacement of electrical appliances, inconvenience, insurance premiums, additional expenses incurred at the POD by the home owner to ensure a continues supply of power.

2.1.2 Penalties may not be used to offset Usage at the POD.

3. No excuse performance will be tolerated. E.g. generation, distribution, force majure, Regional & National Government, etc.

3 hours ago, Sidewinder said:

Seems there is a paragraph missing:

22. Homeflex penalties:

The following penalties shall apply to each POD:

1. Per month:

1.1 A proportional penalty each and every time that Eskom fails to deliver Power at the POD.

1.2 For each and every failure - forfeit the R/POD/day rate in totality.

1.3 Pay additional penalties in relation to the Stage of Load Shedding: E.g. Stage 6 - applicable penalty is 6 x R/POD/day rate.

1.4 Penalties may not be used to offset Usage at the POD.

2. Per Year:

2.1 Should the Utility fail to provide a 24 x 7 x 52 service at the POD, it will be incur additional penalties as follows:

2.1.1 R10,000 if any failure occurs during this period.

2.1.2 This amount is to compensate for long term effects of any loadshedding, e.g. replacement of electrical appliances, inconvenience, insurance premiums, additional expenses incurred at the POD by the home owner to ensure a continues supply of power.

2.1.2 Penalties may not be used to offset Usage at the POD.

3. No excuse performance will be tolerated. E.g. generation, distribution, force majure, Regional & National Government, etc.

Do this one again on 1 April  😃

Does this imply they'll force all solar users onto Time of Use? Or is there a possibility that post-paid (with it's larger network fee) might be an allowable alternative?

I understand the need to have solar users 'pay' for using the grid as a battery, but Time of Use simply isn't going to work for everyone and, as @GreenFields mentioned, might leave those unprepared with sticker-shock when they get their bill if they still have some night-time use. The same might apply for users who don't have the spare battery capacity for this.

For my own setup, we'd set a large 'Power' allowance (and a low target SOC %) during those peak times (in the Sunsynk 'System Mode' settings) to permit the battery to drain during those times (and then leave the target percentages, in the timeslots afterwards, high as a reserve for load shedding) - but not all inverters support this level of control.

Seems somewhat unfair to owners that didn't see this coming... unless they can perhaps offer a non-TOU alternative that is more in-line with regular post-paid.