Nersa wants to charge solar panel users up to 1,000% more for power than big mines

[system32]

Why Eskom using emergency OCGT so much?

 

[mojoman]

Where is Nersa? Lets go burn it down...And then we get what we want...

 

[ToxicBunny]

Gonna punish you for that as well.

In all honesty I'd love to figure out how they will manage that with punishing everyone else...

That and I would hazard a guess enough rich people will get incensed and take government to court over any attempt to extract fees for something that aren't due.

 

[deweyzeph]

The title of this article is misleading. It makes it sound as if solar power users are being specifically targeted. If you read the article what they actually mean is that solar power users will be charged the same fixed fee as every other electricity user regardless of whether they use any grid electricity or not. This is currently the situation in most municipalities anyway. Specifically in the City of Cape Town, and I suspect in most municipalities, it's not even possible to cancel your electricity account even if you have an entirely off-grid solution.

 

[neoprema]

I'm thinking of solar if nothing more than to do something about this constant upgrade/downgrade fee I get charged. Its my first house (always been in a townhouse) and every 2 second month my Tariff rate changes and then I get charged an R860 re-connection fee. October they charged to downgrade, then in December they charged again to change the tariff again. Didn't know this would happen in a house depending on our usage but how do you guarantee you won't use more or less and get moved tariffs every month?

 

[rvZA]

This is why you need a huge setup where you can store sufficient power from your solar system which will give you at least 2-3 weeks of power, 24 hours a day, in the event you have bad weather. Then you also need a Generator that could power your whole premises as backup incase you ever need it. If you have this setup in place, you will never need to look towards Eskom again.

 

[Tinuva]

The title of this article is misleading. It makes it sound as if solar power users are being specifically targeted. If you read the article what they actually mean is that solar power users will be charged the same fixed fee as every other electricity user regardless of whether they use any grid electricity or not. This is currently the situation in most municipalities anyway. Specifically in the City of Cape Town, and I suspect in most municipalities, it's not even possible to cancel your electricity account even if you have an entirely off-grid solution.

I must have read a different article than you. It specifically states that they want to add a rate for solar user's usage that is 5x to 10x more than regular non-solar users. On top of the daily connection fee.

 

[charlieharper]

So basically giving us a Sun-tax.... for using the sun.

Didn't know NERSA owned the sun. Well done.

 

[Mystic Twilight]

This may or may not be such a big issue, depending on your solar size. If you have a large enough solar system and high battery capacity, your average monthly amount based on eskom usage could still be relatively very low. It's those who have very small solar installations (size and/or capacity) with say at least 40% grid usage that are going to feel the costs. Those network charges are probably going to be the more expensive part of the payment equation than the usage cost, 10 or 15 or 20 x 0 usage is still 0, but the fixed network connection charge will always be there, which they can hike at nearly any time.

 

[rvZA]

The title of this article is misleading. It makes it sound as if solar power users are being specifically targeted. If you read the article what they actually mean is that solar power users will be charged the same fixed fee as every other electricity user regardless of whether they use any grid electricity or not. This is currently the situation in most municipalities anyway. Specifically in the City of Cape Town, and I suspect in most municipalities, it's not even possible to cancel your electricity account even if you have an entirely off-grid solution.

You are right. But about 2 years ago, there were also talk about charging Solar users more for electricity, when they switch over some days. It does not really matter. The end result will be the same....

They will start off with a basic tariff fee each month of R800 on every household. If they do not make sufficient money from electricity alone, that R800 will eventually increase to R1000, then R1200, then R2000, then R2500, R3000, R5000....... and upwards, whether you actially use electricity or not.

 

[ToxicBunny]

This is why you need a huge setup where you can store sufficient power from your solar system which will give you at least 2-3 weeks of power, 24 hours a day, in the event you have bad weather. Then you also need a Generator that could power your whole premises as backup incase you ever need it. If you have this setup in place, you will never need to look towards Eskom again.

Wtf are you smoking... 2-3 weeks of power from a solar system... Nobody is that retarded to build such a ridiculous system.

 

[charlieharper]

I honestly thought Eskom would be happy with the few extra Kwh we feed into the grid and then resell to other users (at almost 100% profit cause they didn't have to burn coal / diesel and we carry the cost of solar system) during the day that they struggle to generate.

Technically it should be a win-win situation, but you know - punish those who prefer not to be punished with loadshedding.

 

[rvZA]

Wtf are you smoking... 2-3 weeks of power from a solar system... Nobody is that retarded to build such a ridiculous system.

Well, then, in that case, one needs to look at how much electricity pricing, connection fees, basic tarrifs and more cost you and then make a sober decision on whether it is still worth your while and worth the living costs to live in the country and simply rather to just emigrate for a more cost-effective country with better living costs and standards.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Well, then, in that case, one needs to look at how much electricity pricing, connection fees, basic tarrifs and more cost you and then make a sober decision on whether it is still worth your while and worth the living costs to live in the country and simply rather to just emigrate for a more cost-effective country with better living costs and standards.

You live in some strange deranged world...

You build a solar system that can generate enough power for a day based off general worst case solar radiation and enough battery backup for the night... Maybe for a full day... And even that system is way way over specced. If you are worried about other aspects then you have a generator as backup to charge the batteries.

 

[rvZA]

You live in some strange deranged world...

You build a solar system that can generate enough power for a day based off general worst case solar radiation and enough battery backup for the night... Maybe for a full day... And even that system is way way over specced. If you are worried about other aspects then you have a generator as backup to charge the batteries.

Nee man, dan lewe mens mos nou soos kak.

 

[Joseph matane]

So Eskom is simply against grid-tie system

 

[Gravedigger]

TL;DR...
So, basically, they (Eskom) want to charge you more if you have a solar system installed at your house?

My understanding, there is three types of users:

On-grid: No solar panels to be seen, like most of the country people is on.

Hybrid: have solar, but still using eskom to fill the missing power gap, such as running the stove/geyser, for example.

Off-grid: Not using Eskom in any way, solar-users generating their own electricity using the sun and batteries.

Which groups of user(s) does Eskom want to charge more for? The hybrid group?
Article is VERY confusing, and never really stated why. Too scared they lose out on revenue?

 

[Enzo Matrix]

So Eskom is simply against grid-tie system

No, they are simply looking for ways to steal, fleece, grab more money in any way they can dream up

 

[The Magster]

All I read is "Eskom wants...wants ...wants" but they never ask how we, the actual paying normal customer can afford to satisfy their "wants". Man, some serious changes need to happen...fast!

 

[rvZA]

All I read is "Eskom wants...wants ...wants" but they never ask how we, the actual paying normal customer can afford to satisfy their "wants". Man, some serious changes need to happen...fast!

They all know people has money. Even the poorest of the poor getting a R300 grant. So, there are money for them to take.