Good news about prepaid electricity meter updates — but there’s a catch

Eskom says it has finalised a technical breakthrough allowing zero buyers to update their prepaid electricity meters after the 24 November 2024 deadline.

This was announced in a statement on Friday, 22 November. For reference, “zero buyer” is the term Eskom uses to describe someone who consumes electricity without purchasing it.

This effectively means that these users have been consuming electricity illegally.

“Current zero buyers with active meters have been granted an extension to update their meters to be KRN2 (Key Revision Number 2) compliant beyond the 24 November 2024 deadline,” Eskom said.

“A technological breakthrough has enabled Eskom to pre-create Key Change Tokens (KCT) on its online vending system.”

The power utility urges zero buyers to visit legal vending sites with their prepaid meter numbers to buy electricity. Vending agents will then issue them their KCT.

“This action of purchasing credit tokens must be completed before Sunday, 24 November 2024, to trigger the activation of the meter to the KRN2 mode,” it said.

“Once the meter has been activated by the purchase of electricity, the customer can then visit any of the Eskom sites to complete the conversion process. The final step can be completed after 24 November 2024.”

Eskom added that most buying customers have already completed the update from KRN 1 to KRN 2.

The power utility also provided a brief guide for these users to follow once they obtain their KCT:

• Enter the first 20 digits of your recode token
• Enter the second 20 digits of your recode token
• Finally, enter the 20-digit token from your new electricity purchase to recharge your meter