Cape Town prepaid electricity woes

[raind33r]

There are plenty of cowboys in this line of business! So I'm not surprised:
A. Your being charged what seems like an unapproved tariff
B. They will move quickly to resolve it as they know they are in the wrong and don't want to lose this cash cow.
Some others have said "the BC makes the money", but that's not always the case, often the BC signs over metering to a company who then makes a handy margin! Sometimes they even buy the meters for them :?

Step 1: Determine who WOULD be your supplier.
The Northern parts of CPT are very strange when it comes to Eskom or CoCT. One side of a street can be Eskom, the other COCT. Here's the map

http://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Maps%20and%20statistics/Electricity%20Distribution%20Licence%20and%20Area%20Boundaries.pdf

Find your complex and whatever it says there is what tariff book you should be paying.

Step 2: Use the tariff book links (as @lsheed_cn has given - or just Google "[Municipality] electricity tariff" to decide what tariff you should be on.
Either Domestic, Home or Lifeline for CoCT
HomePower or Homelight for Eskom

Step 3: formally request back dated since you moved in for the over charge...

Step 4:?
Step 5: Profit
(For all the ex-slashdotters out there)

Ps DM me if you want me to run some.numbers or propose a better and legal metering solution

Anyone out there doing a meter that one can input a token remotely? Thinking of a bedridden person that can't reach the keypad.

 

[richjdavies]

Anyone out there doing a meter that one can input a token remotely? Thinking of a bedridden person that can't reach the keypad.

Yes - those kind of meters are available - but let's not get confused here. If you have a direct connection to municipality it's the MUNICIPALITIES meter... not yours, so you can't change it...
If your in Body Corporate/HOA situation, then the meters are (probably) the BC/HOAs... and again it's not the tenants choice, but the Landlord/BC/HOA decision about which meter to use.
If you're a Landlord and have a cottage say with a bed-ridden person; then just remove the prepaid meter or disable the prepaid aspect of it and be a nice person

Unfortunately, despite it being very easy to vend a token online, getting that token to the meter is surprisingly hard. Even with the remote keypads, using RF or PLC or even straight wired ones, the comms between the keypad (aka the CUI) and the real-life meter in the Distribution Board, is fiddly and proprietary to each meter. We worked for a bit on some solutions to this, but there are too many types of meters, and it's a bit too close to 'tampering' so is difficult to make a commercial solution.

If someone wants to crowd source some customers though, we'd happily look at it again.
The meter we got furthest with is the Conlog BEC44

 

[isie]

Yes - those kind of meters are available - but let's not get confused here. If you have a direct connection to municipality it's the MUNICIPALITIES meter... not yours, so you can't change it...
If your in Body Corporate/HOA situation, then the meters are (probably) the BC/HOAs... and again it's not the tenants choice, but the Landlord/BC/HOA decision about which meter to use.
If you're a Landlord and have a cottage say with a bed-ridden person; then just remove the prepaid meter or disable the prepaid aspect of it and be a nice person

Unfortunately, despite it being very easy to vend a token online, getting that token to the meter is surprisingly hard. Even with the remote keypads, using RF or PLC or even straight wired ones, the comms between the keypad (aka the CUI) and the real-life meter in the Distribution Board, is fiddly and proprietary to each meter. We worked for a bit on some solutions to this, but there are too many types of meters, and it's a bit too close to 'tampering' so is difficult to make a commercial solution.

If someone wants to crowd source some customers though, we'd happily look at it again.
The meter we got furthest with is the Conlog BEC44

I still can't understand with municipalities why the need to punch in the voucher number, everything is checked and calculated when you buy so not sure why the added step is required.

 

[deweyzeph]

I still can't understand with municipalities why the need to punch in the voucher number, everything is checked and calculated when you buy so not sure why the added step is required.

There is no communication between prepaid electricity meters and the vendor of the prepaid vouchers. They are completely standalone units that sit between the municipalities power supply and your house's distribution board. Therefore in order for it to work a voucher is generated according to an algorithm that generates a unique token that is specific to the meter number of your prepaid meter. The only way to tell the meter what the token is is to physically punch it into the keypad because there is no other way for the vendor to communicate with the meter.

 

[isie]

There is no communication between prepaid electricity meters and the vendor of the prepaid vouchers. They are completely standalone units that sit between the municipalities power supply and your house's distribution board. Therefore in order for it to work a voucher is generated according to an algorithm that generates a unique token that is specific to the meter number of your prepaid meter. The only way to tell the meter what the token is is to physically punch it into the keypad because there is no other way for the vendor to communicate with the meter.

I get all of that and it Makes sense just seems to me in this day and age unnecessary. the systems supposed to communicate with them directly (they take meter reading without having to come in ).
I guess it's better then it used to be so that's at least good.

 

[richjdavies]

I get all of that and it Makes sense just seems to me in this day and age unnecessary. the systems supposed to communicate with them directly (they take meter reading without having to come in ).
I guess it's better then it used to be so that's at least good.

They don't take meter readings with prepaid?

Often there are two parts to the meter. A part in the cabinet/minusub/distribution board etc. in the street and a part that goes in the flat/house.

They can read the meter from the cabinet without coming into your house.

What prepaid meter do you guys think is the most common in Cape Town now then?

(I've lived in a few places and been different every time, with different Comms, so it's never seemed worth developing!)

 

[raind33r]

Yes - those kind of meters are available - but let's not get confused here. If you have a direct connection to municipality it's the MUNICIPALITIES meter... not yours, so you can't change it...
If your in Body Corporate/HOA situation, then the meters are (probably) the BC/HOAs... and again it's not the tenants choice, but the Landlord/BC/HOA decision about which meter to use.
If you're a Landlord and have a cottage say with a bed-ridden person; then just remove the prepaid meter or disable the prepaid aspect of it and be a nice person

Unfortunately, despite it being very easy to vend a token online, getting that token to the meter is surprisingly hard. Even with the remote keypads, using RF or PLC or even straight wired ones, the comms between the keypad (aka the CUI) and the real-life meter in the Distribution Board, is fiddly and proprietary to each meter. We worked for a bit on some solutions to this, but there are too many types of meters, and it's a bit too close to 'tampering' so is difficult to make a commercial solution.

If someone wants to crowd source some customers though, we'd happily look at it again.
The meter we got furthest with is the Conlog BEC44

@richjdavies Thanks for the info.
It's for a family member ( home owner.)
I guess the best course of action would be to have municipality remove the meter and revert back to post paid.
There isn't a permanent carer on site and electricity credit has a funny way of running out when no one is around.

 

[isie]

They don't take meter readings with prepaid?

They can if they wish to and Logically they should , to detect if any one had tampered with the metre.
Buy 10 units but managed to use 100 that sort of thing

Often there are two parts to the meter. A part in the cabinet/minusub/distribution board etc. in the street and a part that goes in the flat/house.

They can read the meter from the cabinet without coming into your house.

There are no readable digits on my outside meter, so i assume that would need some device to interface to read it outside my house or it sends them the information via mobile or some other means.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Hey @richjdavies thanks for stopping by!

I've been busy doing some research into this for the complex I'm renting at currently and I'm in contact with the body corporate trying to figure this out.

They are arguing that because the entire complex is billed as a whole that all tenants have to therefor pay the highest tariffs - from what I've been reading in this thread and others is that this isn't true.

Do you have any advice on what to tell the body corporate in response to this? This is in Cape Town / Table View if that makes any difference.

Thanks!

 

[itareanlnotani]

Hey @richjdavies thanks for stopping by!

I've been busy doing some research into this for the complex I'm renting at currently and I'm in contact with the body corporate trying to figure this out.

They are arguing that because the entire complex is billed as a whole that all tenants have to therefor pay the highest tariffs - from what I've been reading in this thread and others is that this isn't true.

Do you have any advice on what to tell the body corporate in response to this? This is in Cape Town / Table View if that makes any difference.

Thanks!

You tell them you're going to NERSA to report them for failing to comply with the law.

Then report them, and contact the council too.

 

[richjdavies]

Hey @richjdavies thanks for
Do you have any advice on what to tell the body corporate in response to this? This is in Cape Town / Table View if that makes any difference

Is it Eskom or City of Cape Town? Just ask them for the incoming bill, send it over to me and I'll tell you what they should be doing...

There are lots of clueless BCs/HoAs that don't understand tariffs and don't care cuz it's "someone else's money"... Mostly incompetence, but sometimes malice/profit taking especially if there's a third party...

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Is it Eskom or City of Cape Town? Just ask them for the incoming bill, send it over to me and I'll tell you what they should be doing...

There are lots of clueless BCs/HoAs that don't understand tariffs and don't care cuz it's "someone else's money"... Mostly incompetence, but sometimes malice/profit taking especially if there's a third party...

You've got pm, thanks!

 

[richjdavies]

You've got pm, thanks!

Got it, and replied.

Anyone else got one... I'm on a roll and feeling generous (maybe it's cuz it's almost my birthday!!)

Ps: worth saying, this is an Eskom tariff issue it seems. Blocks (infact any larger user) needs to manage their tariffs based on their REAL usage... Get your incomer meters, data fans!!!

 

[isie]

Got it, and replied.

Anyone else got one... I'm on a roll and feeling generous (maybe it's cuz it's almost my birthday!!)

Ps: worth saying, this is an Eskom tariff issue it seems. Blocks (infact any larger user) needs to manage their tariffs based on their REAL usage... Get your incomer meters, data fans!!!

What are we talking about ?
and umm happy almost birthday

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

What are we talking about ?
and umm happy almost birthday

He's been bestowing his wisdom with me.

I actually just received an encouraging email regarding the situation at our complex, nothing finalized yet but it's being worked on currently. Hope to have some good news soon

 

[richjdavies]

What are we talking about ?
and umm happy almost birthday

Electricity tariffs? Right? Getting ripped off because your Body Corporate or Home Owners Association doesn't know how to look at an electricity bill...

I'm here to help, if you want it

Otherwise, please at least try to get your own meter in the incomer and do your own calculations. Fibre/ADSL/Mobile is much more complicated, so I'm sure you can all figure it out

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

Anyone out there doing a meter that one can input a token remotely? Thinking of a bedridden person that can't reach the keypad.

Why would there be a need for that?

Surely a bedridden person would have someone that looks after them, otherwise punching keys on an electrical meter would be the LEAST of their worries.

 

[richjdavies]

Why would there be a need for that?

Surely a bedridden person would have someone that looks after them, otherwise punching keys on an electrical meter would be the LEAST of their worries.

The biggest use case I've seen for this is actually much higher end. Holiday homes with electric fences or freezers that have stuff in them...

Remote prepaid is great for that, especially if it can be monitored...

 

[isie]

Electricity tariffs? Right? Getting ripped off because your Body Corporate or Home Owners Association doesn't know how to look at an electricity bill...

I'm here to help, if you want it

Otherwise, please at least try to get your own meter in the incomer and do your own calculations. Fibre/ADSL/Mobile is much more complicated, so I'm sure you can all figure it out

Thanks i'm good , i deal directly with the Lords of Darkness.
I'm an Eskom direct customer

 

[raind33r]

Why would there be a need for that?

Surely a bedridden person would have someone that looks after them, otherwise punching keys on an electrical meter would be the LEAST of their worries.

The carer is not 24/7. Couple of days a week. Carers are human, humans forget to check the meter....the electricity runs out at night....or a long weekend etc etc etc

The use case is exactly that, for someone who cant physically get to the keypad.

Easiest is probably to apply for removal of prepaid meter and go back to post paid again.