“My son was suspicious and refused entry, as we have never arranged a prepaid meter,” the complainant said.
According to him, the letter is similar to a newsletter directed at small businesses and not residential homes.
“Smells of a scam,” he said.
The letter reads:
You are a valuable customer to our City and we thank you for your contribution to our partnership over the years. We strive to provide our customers with a world-class service.
Electricity metering infrastructure in your segment of our customer base has aged, hence this project to install modernized metering equipment.
The Energy Department has a very good reputation when it comes to electricity metering. Our larger customers, mostly in the business and industry segment, have been metered via an automated meter reading system for the last ten years. These meter reading are uploaded in 30 minute intervals and readings (and graphs) are displayed on a webpage. These sophisticated customer segments are able to access the data anytime, inclusive of using the online site to understand and manage their consumption profiles. The City has about 8 000 customers on this system, and successful monthly uploads are measured at 98 per cent over the last number of years.
On the other end of the consumption scale, EMM has been upgrading smaller electricity meters with prepayment meters. The City now has 260 000 customers on prepayment meters, enjoying the numerous benefits associated with a much more modern form of metering. Prepayment customers have no more interim readings as a result of meter readers not gaining access to the meter, no strange accounts due to misreads, and the benefit list goes on.
EMM has now commissioned a project to include smaller business customers on one of the above two systems, depending on the size of their electricity connections. Larger business consumers, with a capacity of 3 x 100 Ampere connections, will be moved to the automated meter reading system, with no cost at all to the business.
Smaller business customers, with connection capacities less than that mentioned above, will be moved to the prepayment metering system, again at zero cost.
Please note an Ekurhuleni appointed contractor will soon contact you to arrange access to your property, for your free conversion to one of the two technologies described. We request that you kindly allow access to your property for this project.
The letter was signed by Chief Area Engineer Boksburg, William Olivier.
The Advertiser asked the metro whether they, in fact, did instruct Ekurhuleni appointed contractors to insert prepaid meters in Boksburg, specifically Sunward Park.
The newspaper is awaiting a response.
Outrage over faulty prepaid meters
