This is how electricity tariffs will work from 1 July 2022

GEORGE NEWS - The approval of the 2022/23 budget in May 2022 by Council has introduced a number of changes in the way George Municipality will be charging for electricity.

WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW?

• The Eskom increase to all municipalities in South Africa is 8,61% and George Municipality has approved an overall average electricity price lower than this for our customers at 7,47%. (Please note, you will not be charged the Eskom increase + GM increase).

• To comply with Nersa requirements, the George municipal tariffs will be structured as cost-reflective tariffs, with changes to how the tariff is made up.

• The tariff structure changes will include a fixed cost made up of a basic charge, a capacity charge, and an energy consumption charge (according to the number of units electricity used).

• The basic and capacity charges will only come into effect where households have capacities of 30amps and above.

• Registered indigent and poor households will not pay any fixed charges, but will need to limit their pre-paid meter electricity supply to a 20amp capacity.

• The new rates will be applied from 1 July 2022, but the actual selected capacity limits will be implemented over a period of two years (maximum).

• You can choose your capacity now already if you want to manage your load in your household and know how many kilowatt-hours you consume per month.

• If you can manage with 20amps, there will be NO capacity charge and NO basic charge.

• If you don't know what your capacity should be, you don't have to make a choice right now. George Municipality will look at what your household has used over the past 12 months and implement an appropriate capacity selection for you, but not more than 40amps. The majority of consumers, those using less than 600kWh/m, should be on 20amps (4 600watts). If households manage their load, this provides adequate capacity and it will ensure that the price increase will not be more than the average increase.

• If the municipality chooses your capacity for you, you will have one opportunity to change the selected capacity between July 2022 and June 2023, as well as once every financial year thereafter.

• The fixed costs (basic + capacity charge) and consumption charge are linked to the capacity you choose or that the municipality selects for you.

• Should you be placed on a tariff with a fixed cost, you will be paying a reduced energy charge per kWh unit. Therefore, you should not purchase units in bulk before the end of the financial year, as the cost per kWh on these tariffs will be reduced.

• Consumers who require more than 20amps capacity will be charged a cost-reflective tariff consisting of a fixed monthly basic charge; a capacity charge depending on the capacity limit of the supply and a reduced energy consumption charge as per Table A.