A new, higher electricity price has Buffalo City Metro (BCM) residents in a rage, with many saying the city sneaked tariff increases through the back door.
The city is adamant there is nothing wrong with its pricing, billing, metering and publicity system.
Beverley Lottering of Quigney said that since July her electrical usage suddenly “more than trebled”.
The Nersa-approved annual increase of 7.64% for the metro’s 150000 users kicked in on July 1.
BCM spokesman Sibusiso Cindi said this took the cost per unit or kWh of electricity to R1.9172 including VAT.
In an interview yesterday, BCM chief financial officer Vincent Pillay said: “We have had no major issue.”
Pillay and officials said the metro expected to make R1.8-billion from electricity sales this financial year, which was the biggest revenue generator in the R4.8-billion the metro expected to receive from rates, water, sewerage and other tariffs.
Rough maths shows that the electricity increase will rake in an extra R137-million for BCM.
The new tariff was announced in a half-page advert which appeared in the Daily Dispatch on June 9. It is listed at the top of more than 50 tariffs which run down the page.
Pillay said he had no budget to advertise more than once. To prove that BCM’s complaint lines were working he dialled 086-111-3017 and it was answered.
Back in the office, the Dispatch tried the number and had to hold for two minutes while electronic music played before an operator came on. She was helpful, and knew about the tariff increase but did not know it was 7.64%.
Pillay said the tariff increases were also announced on BCM’s website, in leaflets in all 50 wards and during the IDP roadshow and libraries.
But Lottering of Quigney said: “I live in a two-bedroomed flat, do not run heaters or anything else besides my geyser. I use a gas stove.
“Before the increase I used to buy R500 of electricity a month and at the end of the month still had at least 80 units left on the meter. Now, I am buying R200 electricity every three days!
“Besides the unit increase, there is something really very wrong and residents of East London urgently need this to be looked at.
“I have done a quick survey on Facebook and everyone is complaining about the same thing.
“We are getting ripped off.”
Andre Swart, Gonubie’s new DA councillor, who has just resigned as chairman of the Buffalo City Ratepayers’ Forum and Gonubie Ratepayers’ Association, said: “I was using 33 units a day until I replaced the prepaid meter and it suddenly went up to 50 units a day.
“My usage is the same. I run my geyser and a fridge and deep freeze like usual, but the meter is running like a mad thing. It is impossible to be using 50 units a day. My bill has gone up by 40%.”
A letter writer, who withheld his name, wrote in Tuesday’s Dispatch that he bought prepaid coupons last Monday at 52 units per R100 but the next time he got 56 units for his R100.
Cindi suggested that much higher-than-normal electricity costs (determined by consumption multiplied by the tariff) could be explained by:
lPeople using more electricity;
lService providers and vending agents overcharging;
lCustomers buying before and after the July 1 tariff increase and wondering why they were paying comparatively more; and
lProperty owners installing “non-BCM meters” in blocks of flats and housing developments, and then charging over and above the BCM tariff rate.
Cindi said service providers overcharging would be investigated “and appropriate action taken against the vending agent.
“BCM is also aware of property owners charging over and above the BCM electricity tariff rates, where non-BCM meters have been installed at blocks of flats or communal property developments.”
He said residents were advised to look at their electricity tariff charge rate and compare it with the applicable BCM-approved electricity tariff rate.
A retired bank accountant, Dawn Hamfeldt of Vincent, said she kept a careful watch for the new tariffs but had not received or seen any notification – not on her bills or in the public arena. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
Electricity bill shock for BCM
The city is adamant there is nothing wrong with its pricing, billing, metering and publicity system.
Beverley Lottering of Quigney said that since July her electrical usage suddenly “more than trebled”.
The Nersa-approved annual increase of 7.64% for the metro’s 150000 users kicked in on July 1.
BCM spokesman Sibusiso Cindi said this took the cost per unit or kWh of electricity to R1.9172 including VAT.
In an interview yesterday, BCM chief financial officer Vincent Pillay said: “We have had no major issue.”
Pillay and officials said the metro expected to make R1.8-billion from electricity sales this financial year, which was the biggest revenue generator in the R4.8-billion the metro expected to receive from rates, water, sewerage and other tariffs.
Rough maths shows that the electricity increase will rake in an extra R137-million for BCM.
The new tariff was announced in a half-page advert which appeared in the Daily Dispatch on June 9. It is listed at the top of more than 50 tariffs which run down the page.
Pillay said he had no budget to advertise more than once. To prove that BCM’s complaint lines were working he dialled 086-111-3017 and it was answered.
Back in the office, the Dispatch tried the number and had to hold for two minutes while electronic music played before an operator came on. She was helpful, and knew about the tariff increase but did not know it was 7.64%.
Pillay said the tariff increases were also announced on BCM’s website, in leaflets in all 50 wards and during the IDP roadshow and libraries.
But Lottering of Quigney said: “I live in a two-bedroomed flat, do not run heaters or anything else besides my geyser. I use a gas stove.
“Before the increase I used to buy R500 of electricity a month and at the end of the month still had at least 80 units left on the meter. Now, I am buying R200 electricity every three days!
“Besides the unit increase, there is something really very wrong and residents of East London urgently need this to be looked at.
“I have done a quick survey on Facebook and everyone is complaining about the same thing.
“We are getting ripped off.”
Andre Swart, Gonubie’s new DA councillor, who has just resigned as chairman of the Buffalo City Ratepayers’ Forum and Gonubie Ratepayers’ Association, said: “I was using 33 units a day until I replaced the prepaid meter and it suddenly went up to 50 units a day.
“My usage is the same. I run my geyser and a fridge and deep freeze like usual, but the meter is running like a mad thing. It is impossible to be using 50 units a day. My bill has gone up by 40%.”
A letter writer, who withheld his name, wrote in Tuesday’s Dispatch that he bought prepaid coupons last Monday at 52 units per R100 but the next time he got 56 units for his R100.
Cindi suggested that much higher-than-normal electricity costs (determined by consumption multiplied by the tariff) could be explained by:
lPeople using more electricity;
lService providers and vending agents overcharging;
lCustomers buying before and after the July 1 tariff increase and wondering why they were paying comparatively more; and
lProperty owners installing “non-BCM meters” in blocks of flats and housing developments, and then charging over and above the BCM tariff rate.
Cindi said service providers overcharging would be investigated “and appropriate action taken against the vending agent.
“BCM is also aware of property owners charging over and above the BCM electricity tariff rates, where non-BCM meters have been installed at blocks of flats or communal property developments.”
He said residents were advised to look at their electricity tariff charge rate and compare it with the applicable BCM-approved electricity tariff rate.
A retired bank accountant, Dawn Hamfeldt of Vincent, said she kept a careful watch for the new tariffs but had not received or seen any notification – not on her bills or in the public arena. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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