Power back in your hands?
Talk Radio 702's Xolani Gwala spoke to energy expert from EE publishers Chris Yelland about City Power's bold new move to help save electricity and hopefully lower chances of future load shedding. The system, known as time of use tariff is nothing new in South Africa or internationally but as Chris says, hasn't been tested for residential use before. The system is likely to start July 1st 2015.
The way it works is that the meter needs to be what is known as a smart meter with real time clock. These divide the day into two, on peak and standard. The former is from 7 to 9am in the morning and around 5 to 9pm in the evening with the latter being in between.
The idea is that you will be penalized when using electricity a lot during the on-peak and get discounted for using it during standard times. If you can adjust your lifestyle and start getting used to the new system you eventually save up and the utility benefits too.
