City Power will implement the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) approved tariffs from the month of July 2023.
The entity says the increase follows intensive consultation with the public during the recent Integrated Development Plan (IDP), and other regulated consultation processes before the entity made its application to Nersa.
“City Power tariff application to Nersa was in line with the consideration of the current economic conditions where most of our residents are affected by the rising costs of living, recovering from the impact of Covid-19, and the weighted average increase for its customers limited to 14.97%, in order to cushion residents while ensuring sustainable service delivery continues,” said City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena.
He added: “To simplify it, our prepaid customer with a usage of 350 kWh monthly, will increase to R2.10/kWh for block 1 or by R95.55 to R733.85 per month exclusive of VAT. Customers using 374kWh/m will be charged an additional R7.52 paying R57.72 at block 2 tariffs (R2.41/kWh) for the additional 24kWhs, the total cost will be R791.57/m (R103.07 extra).”
City Power’s prepaid tariff is based on the inclining block tariff methodology as prescribed by Nersa. The tariff applicable increases as actual monthly consumption exceed the respective threshold for blocks 1, block 2 and block 3 of 350kWh, 500kWh and any usage above 500kWh
To save costs, City Power advises customers to buy electricity 350kWh only, for R733.85 plus VAT (R843.93) at the beginning of the month and to use it sparingly.
For alternative energy tariffs, City Power is working on implementing a feed-in tariff, where customers with PV solar systems can feedback their excess power to the grid and reduce their monthly electricity bill.
Residential embedded generator is approved for 85,50c/kWh and for business and LPU embedded generator (<=1 MW) is approved for 70,85 c/kWh.
“Moreover, City Power has different tariffs for its four different categories namely residential, business, agricultural and large power users. Although Nersa has approved most of the tariff increases as applied, it has changed City Power’s application with regards to the Business Tariffs affecting business prepaid, conventional and business conventional reseller customers also to 14.97%,” added Mangena.
In addition, changes will be applied to the Large Power User Demand Tariff and LPU Demand TOU customers which NERSA has set at a 14.97% increase.
See table below
All customers will in addition to the above charges be liable for a Network Surcharge of 6c/kWh. Residential customers are, however, exempt from the Network Surcharge for the first 500kWh consumed per month. All business and large power user customers are to be levied a 2% surcharge as well.
Mangena concluded: “As some of these tariffs are different from what was approved by Council, the approved Nersa tariffs will have to go back to the City of Johannesburg Council for rectification. City Power in its operations, always strives to ensure that electricity is available and is affordable for our customers who are already buckling under tough economic conditions.”
