The City of Cape Town’s Prepaid Electricity Meter Testing Laboratory is a leading testing facility where all City prepaid meters are tested for accuracy before being installed in residents’ homes. The City tests every single prepaid electricity meter before installation, and it has more 600 000 prepaid electricity meters within the metro.
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Alderman Xanthea Limberg, met Energy teams at the City’s meter testing laboratory to take a closer look at how prepaid meters are tested before they are installed in the homes of City customers. All City prepaid electricity meters supplied and installed by the City conform to National Standards and are tested by both the manufacturers and the City against stringent calibration standards.
‘Thorough testing is the lynchpin of our electricity metering strategy, ensuring residents and businesses receive accurate meter readings and that they pay for the exact amount of power that they use, in line with council-approved tariffs. The City is a proud leader in precision metering and we are one of a few municipalities in the country to have a testing facility.
‘Our facility tests every single electricity meter for accuracy and performance before it is installed in residents’ homes. Testing ensures that residents are consuming electricity accurately and that the meters meet all the required reliability and safety standards. It is important for residents to note that some areas in the metro are supplied with electricity directly by Eskom and others by the City. This is not something which is determined by the City but under national legislation. The City of Cape Town is only responsible for prepaid electricity meters in its supply areas.
‘We currently have more than 600 000 prepaid electricity meters in use in the metro, and our meter testing laboratory plays a critical role in ensuring our meters are in the best working order,’ said Alderman Limberg.
Prepaid Meter tampering
The City has some of the most advanced meter monitoring and testing operations in the country. Suspected meter tampering or bypassing investigations happen on a daily basis and can be checked against longer-term usage data.
Meter tampering is an illegal act. The theft of electricity hurts the City’s ability to pay for service delivery and it will push up electricity prices for all. Our new smart prepaid electricity meters are there to protect our customers as they have five built-in warnings to indicate tampering before the meter switches off.
Meter replacement programme
New, smarter electricity meters continue to be rolled out in different areas of the metro in phases. This programme is compulsory and free, helping customers in many ways by reducing the risk of incorrect readings, improving energy usage for residents and enabling qualifying customers to benefit from the subsidised Lifeline tariff. Electricity meters belong to the City and reasonable access to test, replace and monitor the meters is required by law. It is this focus on infrastructure investment that makes Cape Town stand apart from other metros. Investment in infrastructure is of great benefit to customers as well.
Roll outs under way and planned
|
April – June 2025 |
| Woodstock |
| Salt River |
| Observatory |
| Foreshore |
|
July – September 2025 |
| Mowbray |
| Rosebank |
| Rondebosch |
| Rondebosch East |
| Newlands |
Fast facts about the replacement programme
· Compulsory programme
· Meter replacement enables Lifeline tariff benefits
· New meters do not ‘use’ more electricity, they merely measure the usage
· No difference in usage of electricity between the old and new meters
· New meters are part of an investment in accurate and new electrical infrastructure
· Electricity meters are the property of the City and reasonable access to premises is required in terms of the law
Contact the City’s Customer Call Centre: 0860 103 089 for enquiries.
