by Chris Yelland, investigative editor, EE Publishers

There is a widespread perception that City Power and other municipal electricity distributors buy electricity from Eskom and then resell the electricity to domestic customers within their areas of supply with massive mark-ups and at significantly higher prices than would be the case if Eskom supplied such domestic customers directly.

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Chris Yelland

While the domestic electricity prices of some municipal distributors may be higher than Eskom's in some cases, a closer examination of the facts shows that this is certainly not always the case, and in particular in respect of the domestic electricity prices of City Power (Johannesburg) as compared to Eskom domestic electricity pricing nationally (including areas such as Soweto, Sandton and Midrand).

Recent social unrest in Soweto highlights the danger of public misunderstanding on the price differences between Eskom's prepaid and credit meter tariffs, and also between the domestic electricity tariffs of Eskom and City Power. The problem is that both Eskom tariffs and City Power tariffs are presented in such an unintelligible way, that very few domestic customers are able understand them, let alone compare them in order to make rational conclusions and choices.

A previous article compared Eskom single phase domestic prepaid and credit meter tariffs. In the light of statements by Eskom acting CEO Brian Molefe suggesting that Eskom should take over electricity distribution from municipal distributors such as City Power, this article compares Eskom's single-phase domestic prepaid and credit meter tariffs with those of City Power, in order to shed some clarity on the subject.

The relevant Eskom and City Power single-phase domestic tariff options and rates are shown in Table 1 and Table 2 below.

The tariff rates of Table 1 and Table 2 are then used to prepare Table 3, in which the tariff rates are translated into monthly electricity billed values (in Rands), for each of the seven tariffs under consideration, and for consumption levels of up to 4000 kWh per month.

Fig. 1 presents Table 3 graphically, with linear interpolation between the various consumption points, making it easier to visualise and compare the monthly electricity bill accurately for any level of electricity consumption for the various tariffs.

Click here for the full article and conclusions from analysis of Fig. 1