Electricity tariffs for homeowners escalate on 1 July each year. To help you plan for tariff upturn, we had a look at the planned increases in the country’s biggest municipalities to see what we’re all in for.
Over the last two months, most municipalities throughout SA released their planned electricity tariff increases for 2017/2018. These are currently being reviewed by NERSA. If approved, new tariffs will take effect from 1 July 2017.
We reviewed the planned increases for the three largest municipalities where we operate so that you know what impact you’re likely to experience.
How tariff increases work
Municipalities use an inclining block tariff regulator for home users. This means that your electricity becomes more expensive the more you use. To make it easier to compare, we’ve calculated the cost for a typical family home using 800 kWh of electricity per month.
Johannesburg
Johannesburg City Power will be increasing tariffs by 2.28%. The old and new tariffs for single and three phase domestic homes are shown below (all are excl. VAT).
Example – Typical family home (800 kWh per month)
Tshwane
Tshwane tariff increases were different for each consumption bracket. The old and new tariffs for domestic homes are shown below (all are excl. VAT).
Example – Typical family home (800 kWh per month)
Cape Town
There has been much confusion around the new City of Cape Town tariffs. Until now, there have been two different residential tariffs. These were based on the value of your property. The old tariff structure is shown below (all are excl. VAT and in c/kWh).
The new tariffs introduce a 3rd residential tariff called Home User. The 3 residential tariffs are still defined by the value of your property; however, each tariff has changed slightly. The tariffs also see an increase of 2.8%. The new tariffs are shown below (all are ex. VAT and in c/kWh).
How this impacts you
If your property is valued at more than R1 million, you will now pay a fixed fee regardless of how much electricity you use. This is because the city needs to maintain the infrastructure that delivers your electricity, irrespective of your consumption. If you use more than 600 kWh per month, your bill will remain unchanged as the rate for >600 kWh is the same for domestic and home user tariffs. If you use less than 600 kWh you will be paying more on the home user tariff due to the fixed fee structure.
Example – Typical family home (800 kWh per month)