Smart-meter technology is the way to go – Minister

04 October 2016

 

Local Government and Traditional Affairs Minister David van Rooyen on Monday October 3 said the electricity sector should “look outside” for solutions to the enormous challenges confronting the industry.

 

Opening the 65th Convection of the Association of Municipal electricity Utilities (AMEU) Southern Africa at Emfuleni Municipality in the Vaal, Minister Van Rooyen said it was important that electricity challenges – from generation to distribution – were looked at with a view to finding better ways to serve customers.

The three-day convention has attracted hundreds of delegates from across Southern Africa, including representatives of the City of Johannesburg. The annual gathering brings together role players with the aim of finding new and innovative ways to generate, manage and distribute electricity to consumers.

In his address, Minister Van Rooyen said municipalities were battling with the increasing demand for electricity and the challenge of rising debt due to non-payment by consumers. He called on industry players to embrace new technology, citing the rollout of smart meters by the City of Johannesburg through its electricity utility, City Power, as a good example.

“'The use of smart meters should be looked at in order to help us to better manage electricity usage. Technology is part of our everyday lives and we should use it to better service our people,” said Minister Van Rooyen.

Outgoing AMEU president and City Power Managing Director Sicelo Xulu told delegates – who included representatives of state-owned enterprises such as Eskom, private electricity producers and suppliers – that the time had come to engage and find solutions and better ways to manage the sector.

Xulu, who handed the AMEU presidency to Moferefere Tshabalala, said more still needed to be done to enable the sector to respond to today’s challenges. In his maiden speech, Tshabalala said he would continue with the transformation drive that had been initiated and assist municipalities to better manage their respective power utilities.

He said unfortunately municipalities and power utilities continued to “work in silos”, adding that it was now time to open up.

Tshabalala also called on big metros such as Johannesburg to assist smaller municipalities to adopt new ways to manage their electricity while generating new sources of energy. He said the biggest challenge facing municipalities was revenue collection and better management of supply. He said as the new AMEU president he would foster open communication with all stakeholders.

"I believe that through dialogue we can find each other. We need to be open about challenges facing all of us,” he said.Nhlanhla Ngidi, who was representing the South African Local government Association (SALGA), told the conference that municipalities were being squeezed out of business as suppliers of electricity due to policy changes.
He said time had come for municipalities to look into other streams to generate revenue and invest in their capabilities.
Ngidi said energy mix was but one of the solutions that would help municipalities to continue supplying electricity. 
He told delegates to seriously look at how the City of Johannesburg had embraced innovative solutions to limit reliance on the national electricity grid.
Ngidi added that Eskom could not be the dominant supplier of electricity “in a space currently managed by municipalities”.