How to cut your grid connection in South Africa

The impending overhaul of South Africa’s electricity tariff determinations could make it more attractive for South African households and businesses to become electricity-independent and sever their connection to the national grid.

While their approaches differ, both Eskom and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa have proposed new electricity tariff determination principles that will see most solar power users paying more for grid-supplied electricity.

Eskom has proposed higher fixed capacity charges regardless of usage, while Nersa wants consumers that primarily use the grid for backup to pay the same rates for energy consumption as heavy-demand customers like mines.

Although neither is intended to specifically punish solar power users, many of them consume very small amounts of power.

As a result, they could be paying substantially more for merely having a grid connection or using only a few kilowatt-hours in a month.

These developments might motivate more people who have invested significantly in a grid-tied system to increase their electricity generation and storage capacity and go fully off-grid.

However, several solar power system installers have previously told MyBroadband that a setup with 100% off-grid capability will need two to three times the solar panels and storage of a grid-tied system that can meet over 90% of a customer’s electricity needs.

That investment will ensure the system can provide sufficient power during prolonged periods of cloudy weather and limited to no sunshine.

For those with sufficiently large systems to eliminate their grid reliance completely, MyBroadband asked Eskom and the country’s three biggest metros about the procedures they needed to follow to disconnect from the grid.

Below is what Eskom and the cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane said about their respective grid cutoff processes. The City of Cape Town did not provide a response by the time of publication.

For other municipalities, households should contact customer service or consult their electricity supply agreements for disconnection processes.

City of Johannesburg

Johannesburg’s City Power said it seldomly received requests from customers for the permanent removal of infrastructure, but it was possible.

City Power regards the removal of electricity infrastructure as a Level 3 disconnection.

“This means that the customer request is sent through to the City Power Revenue Protection department to undertake the permanent removing our infrastructure,” City Power said.

Residents who wish to disconnect from the city’s grid must submit an application through the City of Johannesburg’s customer service department.

That will generate a notification number for the planning department to begin the process and conduct an on-site assessment alongside City Power officials at the customer’s property.

The visit will inform a quotation of how much it would cost to remove the electricity supply infrastructure.

The city will share the quotation with the customer, and once it is paid, the supply will be permanently removed.

Post-removal, City Power’s Revenue Protection division performs random audits and requests to assess whether a connection has remained offline.

The customer will also need to ensure their account with City Power is fully closed.

“This closure will enable the suspension of billing activities and, the estimation of account charges stopped,” City Power said.

City of Tshwane

Tshwane electricity customers must give the municipality at least two full working days’ notice in writing that they intend to disconnect from the grid.

To initiate the process, they must visit one of the city’s walk-in Energy and Electricity Inspectorate Offices — available in regions 1, 3, 4, or 6.

There they must apply for removal of their service meter, referred to officially as RSM. The city currently charges no fee for removing the supply cable and meter.

Prepaid customers who disconnect from the grid must also be reimbursed for any unused credits on their meter.

The Tshwane ya Tima programme has a surveillance team that monitors all the disconnections to ensure they remain off-grid.

Eskom Direct

Eskom Direct customers must give the utility a minimum of 30 calendar days’ notice to terminate their electricity supply agreement.

“There is a generic process to be followed to terminate the supply, but the complexity and timelines are dependent on the customer and supply type,” Eskom told MyBroadband.

These factors will also influence the cost of removing an Eskom Direct connection.

As part of the termination of the agreement and supply; the customer will receive a final account which will set out the amounts due by the customer depending on its contractual arrangements.

Eskom said the customer’s electricity point will be monitored regularly for any usage until the full removal of the meter, transformer, and cables to ensure accounts are paid in full.

“Any illegal usage will be followed up, and the relevant consumers will be charged,” said Eskom.