Overstrand Council approved the electricity tariffs on 31 May 2022. The new electricity tariffs will come into effect on 1 July 2022.
The new electricity tariff scale are as follows:
• 350 kWh @ R1.79 (1.7879) = R625.77 or 0 – 350 units = R1.79 per unit
• 250 kWh @ R2.68 (2.6788) = R669.70 or 351 – 600 units = R2.68 per unit
Kindly note, this has not yet been approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).
UNDERSTANDING HOW THE ELECTRICITY BLOCK TARIFFS WORKS
The electricity price is divided into several steps or blocks. Block tariffs can help residents save on electricity by timing their purchases accordingly. Please note that the kWh unit prices apply to pre-paid and conventional credit electricity differs.
Customers that make use of prepaid electricity, pays 15c per unit cheaper than those who make use of a credit meter.
Electricity units are charged at different prices depending on how much power a household has purchased for the month.
The first block of electricity (350 kWh) is at the lowest price. The next 250 units purchased for the same month cost slightly more.
The incline Block tariff has been implemented for households for both single and three-phase electricity connections.
As the customer purchases more electricity during the month, the electricity bought will eventually fall in block 2, which is more expensive.
This process repeats automatically as the customer purchases further electricity to move into Block 3.
At the end of the month, the history is reset, and the customer will again start the next month from Block 1.
The process to move from the one block to the next is automatic and depends only on the amount of electricity purchased by the customer.
The movement to the next block is not at all affected by whether the purchases are spread over many transactions, or if all the electricity is part of one transaction – as long as it is within one calendar month.
When using prepaid electricity, it is important that you only buy enough electricity for one month. Buying electricity in bulk will mean you end up paying more for electricity.
So only buy the amount of electricity you need for the month. Then wait until the next month and start to buy again at the low price.
* Rates are published in the Overstrand Municipality annual tariff list attached to the Budget document (go to www.overstrand.gov.za; click on the tab for Strategic Documents then Budget, scroll down to Annexure C (Rates and Tariffs).
