City Power has rubbished “misinformation” it said has been circulated by Johannesburg councillors regarding solar installations and prepaid meters in South Africa’s largest city.

In a statement on Monday, City Power took umbrage at claims that it would not install electricity meters for customers who already have a solar system installed.

It said a notice being shared by city councillors, who it didn’t name, makes several false claims.

“It claims that City Power will cut off supply and impose a R30 000 fee if customers purchase electricity units in large amounts. City Power would like to put it on record that this is untrue and we are calling for those who are spreading these lies to desist [from doing so],” it said.

In the statement, City Power also outlined the procedure for customers wanting to add solar installations to their premises, noting that all successful applicants will be converted to post-paid billing to allow the utility to monitor their electricity usage and facilitate the charging of “network fees”. This has been a requirement for solar installations since July 2023.

The process for a solar installation in the City of Johannesburg begins with obtaining a notification number from the city through completing an electricity supply application form.

Requirements

Other requirements are as follows:

A single line diagram of the proposed installation;
An inverter datasheet;
An inverter NRS certificate;
A copy of the design/drawings;
A site plan;
A maintenance procedure document for the specific design;
A PV commissioning form; and
A certificate of compliance.

“We welcome this further clarity from City Power,” said Wetility founder and CEO Vincent Maposa. “It is crucial for us to study the potential impact on consumer costs, as compliance with regulations is essential for a sustainable energy future. The direction towards enabling more customers to trade the power they generate represents a promising step forward for broader participation in the grid.”

Read: Solar panel prices may be headed higher soon

One of the costlier regulatory requirements outlined by City Power is the performance of a compulsory grid impact study for applications proposing systems exceeding 350kVA in capacity. The study must be approved by the city’s planning and evaluation committee.

“This ensures that all installations are not only efficient but also safe for integration into the existing grid,” said City Power.

According to GoSolr CEO Andrew Middleton, the grid impact study is a Nersa requirement applying to larger solar systems and is nothing new. Overall, said Middleton, the notice by City Power merely clarifies the city’s regulatory position – but is welcomed by the industry.

The fee structure for the grid impact study is set out in the table below. Each tier is differentiated by customer supply size – or the maximum amount of power the solar installation can generate on its own.

Cutomer supply size	Category as per-grid code	Applicable cost estimate fee (ex VAT)
0 - 1MVA		R30 000
1MVA - 5MVA		R45 000
5MVA - 10MVA		R66 991.30
10MVA - 20MVA		R81 991.30
20MVA - 40MVA		R100 521.74
>= 40MVA		R115 521.74

Once an installation is complete, it must undergo testing and commissioning. Following this, customers must submit their certificate of compliance along with the PV commissioning form to City Power. If successful, City Power will issue the customer with a pre-approval letter followed by a final approval letter.

City Power spokesman Isaac Mangena said Johannesburg residents and businesses that have already installed solar power systems without registering them with the city should call 011 490 7484 to be added to a database. Thereafter, city officials will arrange an inspection of the systems to ensure they are compliant with regulations.