Cape Town - Prepaid electricity and water meter users have been reminded to update their devices before they stop working on November 24, 2024.
The update was urgently required as the standard system that provided unique recharge codes would soon run out of unique numbers to issue, finance and economic opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger cautioned.
Failure to complete the reset would leave residents unable to buy electricity and municipalities unable to generate revenue from the sale of prepaid electricity or water, she said.
“We are making steady progress in the switchover of prepaid water and electricity meters in the Western Cape, but now is the time to ramp up efforts to complete the process to avoid disaster come November 24, 2024.
“If we don’t, it will be equivalent to load shedding on steroids for thousands of homes and businesses.”
The Standard Transfer Specification (STS), used by more than 500 power utilities worldwide, is the principal global standard protocol for transferring electricity and other utility prepayment tokens.
The STS Association said there are approximately 10 million STS meters in South Africa, 7 million of which are in Eskom service areas, and 3 million in municipal service areas.
Wenger said there were an estimated 1 047 682 municipal meters in the province, and as of April 30, about 88.1% had been updated, up from 82.5% at the beginning of April
Berg River Municipality has now completed the switchover for all prepaid meters, joining Cape Agulhas Municipality, the first municipality to complete the reset in the province.
A reset code was required for each pre-paid meter to continue providing unique codes to residents beyond November 24, 2024, similar to normal recharge voucher codes. “The Provincial Treasury has gathered all the contact details for the relevant officials in each municipality so residents are able to contact them with queries.” Wenger urged municipalities to urgently complete the process to avoid a pre-paid meter blackout, ensuring continued service to households and businesses.
Cape Argus