1001 Smart Cities

Permanent project revision

City Power Smart Meters: Remote Load Limiting and the Non-Vending Prepaid Problem

Revision 2026-10-11-baseline · effective 2026-10-11

Current revision. This is the snapshot used by the live entity page.

unreviewed

Created the first structured Evidence Passport with 17 claims and 10 source dossiers.

sha256:0dc8ef2869727ba38780c8fa0b16888d7deb02ef0c2c138a0149028c41ad81bb
All revisions → Current entity page →

Change set

  • add /evidencePassport — Added claim-level evidence mapping and source dossiers.
  • add /revisionHistory — Established a permanent, hash-addressed baseline revision.
17
of 17 claims mapped
10
source dossiers
8
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Claims, one by one

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-83e7dc6eb611709d quantitative
began installing advanced metering infrastructure in 2013 after a trial of 153 household meters and 2,500 at large users
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
In November 2013 City Power said that over the previous eight months it had installed 153 of the new meters in Ferndale and 2,500 at large power users as a business trial, and that 50,000 would follow by June as the first phase of the rollout.
Caveat
The dates and counts are City Power's own, reported after it said it had been cleared of allegations over the award of the smart-meter tender.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Engineering News — City Power to start installing smart meters (11 Nov 2013)
Claim 2 clm-8dc1df3112b91f80 descriptive
transmit readings automatically, run in prepaid or postpaid mode
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The 2013 statement says the meters can operate in either postpaid or prepaid mode and enable remote reading of exact consumption in real time; the 2026/27 development plan says the meters installed in 2025/26 are integrated into the advanced metering infrastructure, which supports two-way communication and real-time monitoring.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Engineering News — City Power to start installing smart meters (11 Nov 2013)
  2. City of Johannesburg — Final 2026/27 Integrated Development Plan, The People's Plan (2026)
Claim 3 clm-fa8dafa600b5a86a quantitative
from July 2015 carried 'load limiting': during shortages a household was capped at 21 amps and tripped for 30 seconds at a time until it cut consumption
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
City Power's statement of 19 July 2015 says it had started to roll out load limiting in its areas of supply: meters uploaded with the function are curtailed from an average household consumption of 42 amps to 21 amps, and households with excessive consumption experience repeated disconnections of 30 seconds at five-minute intervals until they reduce consumption, with remote disconnection for those that do not comply.
Caveat
Operator statement describing the cycle as launched; City Power said it had piloted the function in Aspen Hills first and later adjusted the disconnection intervals.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Engineering News — City Power pleads with residents not to panic (20 Jul 2015)
Claim 4 clm-5901f2f5a7d17b0c quantitative
over 92,000 in 2015
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The same July 2015 statement puts the total number of smart meters installed at over 92,000, with approximately 30,000 due to be uploaded with load-limiting capability within a week.
Caveat
City Power's own count; a city newsroom page from the same period speaks of more than 60,000 installed, and a trade report of April 2015 of 65,000.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Engineering News — City Power pleads with residents not to panic (20 Jul 2015)
Claim 5 clm-944abb369d966e60 quantitative
around 150,000 in 2020
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
BusinessTech reported in February 2020 that City Power had around 390,000 customers, of which around 150,000 had smart meters that could be accessed remotely and switched off.
Caveat
Press report of City Power's own figure; no audited count exists.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. BusinessTech — City Power is switching off heavy power users (5 Feb 2020)
Claim 6 clm-968e1403dbc7c8b7 quantitative
20,000 to 30,000 by the CEO's count in 2023
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
In May 2023 chief executive Tshifularo Mashava told TimesLIVE the first phase of the R400 million project would roll out about 115,000 smart meters in addition to the between 20,000 and 30,000 already installed.
Caveat
Her figure is far below the 92,000 (2015) and 150,000 (2020) counts; no source explains whether earlier meters were retired, miscounted or excluded from the new generation.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TimesLIVE — Plans to minimise load-shedding in Joburg will only be operational by December: City Power CEO (25 May 2023)
Claim 7 clm-a1fab0ea6eb47bbd quantitative
6,515 added in 2025/26
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Section 21.3.1 of the 2026/27 Integrated Development Plan states that 6,515 smart meters were installed during the 2025/26 financial year, all integrated into the advanced metering infrastructure.
Caveat
The plan gives a figure for one financial year only and no cumulative installed base.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Johannesburg — Final 2026/27 Integrated Development Plan, The People's Plan (2026)
Claim 8 clm-8bf0d3a89ae6e7a5 quantitative
Since 2024 their main use has been revenue protection: prepaid meters that stop vending are switched to postpaid and back-billed
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
From May 2024 City Power converted smart prepaid meters that had not vended for three months to postpaid mode, recovering revenue from the date vending stopped; from 12 November 2025 all non-vending prepaid residential customers were converted and back-charged for up to 36 months; in July 2026 City Power said bypassed prepaid meters will be converted back to postpaid and rebilled for the full period; the 2026/27 plan calls the programme the City's most direct tool for revenue recovery.
Caveat
Load limiting through the smart meters was last reported in use in mid-2024; no 2025 or 2026 source says whether it is still exercised, so 'main use' describes what the utility has published since 2024, not a measured share of meter operations.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City Power Johannesburg — City Power converts non-vending smart prepaid meters to postpaid mode (28 May 2024)
  2. City Power Johannesburg — City Power to convert non-vending prepaid customers to postpaid billing system (11 Nov 2025)
  3. ITWeb — City Power halts meter rollout over free electricity loophole (10 Jul 2026)
  4. City of Johannesburg — Final 2026/27 Integrated Development Plan, The People's Plan (2026)
Claim 9 clm-1c2493c5a45c67cf quantitative
In Mayibuye, metered from November 2023, the first month brought in over R2 million; the following month the figure dropped, and by March 2024 it sat at about R800,000
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
City Power's statement of 28 March 2024 says it began installing smart meters in Mayibuye from November 2023, collected over R2 million in the first month after installation, and that the figure dropped the following month and was sitting at about R800,000.
Caveat
Operator self-report; the statement gives no customer count for Mayibuye and no later collection figure.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City Power Johannesburg — City Power clamps down on smart meter tampering (28 Mar 2024)
Claim 10 clm-5365d63b64ff91db quantitative
an audit found more than 700 households had tampered with the new meters, and 88 were disconnected in March 2024
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The same statement says an audit undertaken after the revenue drop found over 700 households had tampered with the meters, and that on Tuesday 26 March City Power disconnected 88 newly metered customers in Mayibuye and registered criminal complaints.
Caveat
The PDF misprints the disconnection date as 26 March 2027; the statement is dated 28 March 2024.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City Power Johannesburg — City Power clamps down on smart meter tampering (28 Mar 2024)
Claim 11 clm-fed9061379f9113d quantitative
the Auditor-General recorded non-technical electricity losses of R3.96 billion for the year to June 2025, up from R3.45 billion, attributed primarily to theft and bypassing of meters
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The Auditor-General's report reproduced in the Integrated Annual Report states that the group incurred material electricity distribution losses of R5,669,877,000 for the year ended 30 June 2025, of which non-technical losses amounted to R3,960,207,000 (2024: R3,446,202,000), primarily attributable to theft and bypassing of meters, illegal recalibration, damaged meters, faulty transformers, billing errors and customers without meters.
Caveat
The figures are rounded from the audit report's rand amounts; the Auditor-General grades the losses of the whole entity, not the smart-meter population.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Johannesburg — Integrated Annual Report 2024/25, including the Auditor-General's report (2026)
Claim 12 clm-d0d27eee481b92e6 quantitative
the City's annual report puts them at 21% in both years
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Section 5.5 of the Integrated Annual Report states non-technical losses of R4 billion (21%) for the year compared to R3.4 billion (21%) in the prior financial year, noting that the percentage is unchanged while the rand value has grown with Eskom tariffs.
Caveat
The City's own percentage, calculated on bulk purchases and Kelvin capacity charges; City Power separately told the auditors its year-to-date losses had fallen from 40% to 28.4% by the third quarter of 2025/26, a different measure.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City of Johannesburg — Integrated Annual Report 2024/25, including the Auditor-General's report (2026)
Claim 13 clm-80da0a2055144fd6 quantitative
No source states a megawatt figure actually delivered by load limiting; the 70 MW and 775 MW figures are City Power's estimates of what the meters could yield
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
BusinessTech reports City Power's spokesperson saying load limiting through smart meters can give the utility up to 70 MW, and that the planned 330,000 meters would yield 775 MW; both are forward-looking capability estimates. None of the sources reviewed reports a measured reduction achieved during an actual load-limiting event.
Caveat
A statement of absence across the sources reviewed, not a finding that no such measurement exists inside City Power.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. BusinessTech — City Power is switching off heavy power users (5 Feb 2020)
Claim 14 clm-c8f7ca9470152def quantitative
load limiting was running by mid-2015, two years after the first installations
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The first meters went in during 2013 as a trial, and City Power's statement of 19 July 2015 says it had started to roll out load limiting in its areas of supply after a pilot in Aspen Hills.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Engineering News — City Power to start installing smart meters (11 Nov 2013)
  2. Engineering News — City Power pleads with residents not to panic (20 Jul 2015)
Claim 15 clm-6d896d9360cdbd1f descriptive
publishing installed-meter counts that never reconciled
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The published counts run over 92,000 (July 2015), around 150,000 (February 2020), 20,000 to 30,000 already installed by the chief executive's account (May 2023) and 6,515 installed in 2025/26 (2026/27 plan); no source gives a cumulative audited figure or explains the drop.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Engineering News — City Power pleads with residents not to panic (20 Jul 2015)
  2. BusinessTech — City Power is switching off heavy power users (5 Feb 2020)
  3. TimesLIVE — Plans to minimise load-shedding in Joburg will only be operational by December: City Power CEO (25 May 2023)
  4. City of Johannesburg — Final 2026/27 Integrated Development Plan, The People's Plan (2026)
Claim 16 clm-6be969af70d7f3bf quantitative
more than 10,000 of its non-vending prepaid meters sat in affluent suburbs
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
City Power's statement of 28 May 2024 calls the number of smart prepaid meters that had not vended for three months or more alarming, with over 10,000 being in affluent areas and others belonging to businesses.
Caveat
Operator figure; the statement gives no total for non-vending meters citywide.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. City Power Johannesburg — City Power converts non-vending smart prepaid meters to postpaid mode (28 May 2024)
Claim 17 clm-aeb38b9257d65516 quantitative
staff were allegedly helping customers convert to prepaid outside approved procedures, which is why conversions have been suspended since 2025 while the customer database is audited
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
ITWeb reports City Power's July 2026 statement that it is extending the suspension of postpaid-to-prepaid conversions imposed the previous November because customers were converting without following approved processes, in some cases allegedly with the assistance of employees acting outside authorised procedures, and that it will audit and clean up its customer database before conversions resume.
Caveat
An earlier ITWeb report of 5 September 2025 dated the first pause to late August 2025; the July 2026 statement says November 2025. The allegation against employees is City Power's own and no disciplinary outcome has been published.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. ITWeb — City Power halts meter rollout over free electricity loophole (10 Jul 2026)

Source dossiers and revision state

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-10-11-baseline effective 2026-10-11 · created 2026-10-11

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:0dc8ef2869727ba38780c8fa0b16888d7deb02ef0c2c138a0149028c41ad81bb
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
17
of 17 claims mapped
10
source dossiers
8
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
City Power Johannesburg (SOC) Ltd, the City of Johannesburg's electricity utility
Actor types
city-government, utility
Funding model
public
Funding description
City of Johannesburg capital budget through City Power; the chief executive put the 2023 smart-meter and communications programme at R400 million, to be funded as council passed each year's budget
Cost
R400 million programme (City Power CEO figure, May 2023); no cumulative cost of the metering since 2013 has been published
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

10 source dossiers

Engineering News — City Power to start installing smart meters (11 Nov 2013) engineeringnews.co.za · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-1657e809be1122c9
Publisher
Name not classified · engineeringnews.co.za
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2013-11-11
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reports City Power's November 2013 statement that, over the previous eight months, it had installed 153 of the new meters in Ferndale and 2,500 at large power users as a business trial; that 50,000 would follow by June as the first phase; and that the meters operate in either postpaid or prepaid mode and allow remote reading of consumption.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Engineering News — City Power pleads with residents not to panic (20 Jul 2015) engineeringnews.co.za · 4 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-89bf91e8e815be22
Publisher
Name not classified · engineeringnews.co.za
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2015-07-20
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reports City Power's July 2015 statement launching load limiting across its areas of supply: households curtailed from an average 42 amps to 21 amps, repeated 30-second disconnections at five-minute intervals until consumption falls, about 30,000 meters to be uploaded with the function within a week, the Aspen Hills pilot of about 9,000 meters, and a total of over 92,000 smart meters installed at the time.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
BusinessTech — City Power is switching off heavy power users (5 Feb 2020) businesstech.co.za · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-e9e070e4671edd04
Publisher
Name not classified · businesstech.co.za
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2020-02-05
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reports that City Power had around 390,000 customers of which around 150,000 had smart meters in February 2020, that its spokesperson said load limiting could give it up to 70 MW, that it aimed for 330,000 meters yielding 775 MW, and that remote switching of geysers (ripple control) could give up to 100 MW. All figures are City Power's own.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
TimesLIVE — Plans to minimise load-shedding in Joburg will only be operational by December: City Power CEO (25 May 2023) timeslive.co.za · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-251429a34b2b6468
Publisher
Name not classified · timeslive.co.za
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2023-05-25
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Interview with chief executive Tshifularo Mashava: the R400 million project was delayed by financing of the meter rollout and communications equipment; the first phase aimed at about 115,000 smart meters in addition to the 20,000 to 30,000 already installed; ripple relays on geysers were expected to save about 80 MW.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
City Power Johannesburg — City Power clamps down on smart meter tampering (28 Mar 2024) joburg.org.za · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-7199b64974a79317
Publisher
Name not classified · joburg.org.za
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2024-03-28
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

City Power media statement on Mayibuye, where smart meters were installed from November 2023: over R2 million collected in the first month, falling to about R800,000; an audit found over 700 households had tampered with the meters; 88 newly metered customers were disconnected on 26 March (the PDF misprints the year as 2027); the CEO describes the rollout as part of a City project to fit every residential household with a smart meter. Operator self-report.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
City Power Johannesburg — City Power converts non-vending smart prepaid meters to postpaid mode (28 May 2024) joburg.org.za · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-9642c7c05243f843
Publisher
Name not classified · joburg.org.za
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-05-28
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

City Power media statement announcing the conversion of smart prepaid meters that had not vended for three months or more to postpaid mode, with revenue recovery from the date vending stopped; states that over 10,000 such meters are in affluent areas, some belong to businesses, and that the entity carries around R10 billion of debt from non-paying customers. Served as a PDF without extension.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
City Power Johannesburg — City Power to convert non-vending prepaid customers to postpaid billing system (11 Nov 2025) joburg.org.za · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-57f4d0d52c7936fb
Publisher
Name not classified · joburg.org.za
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2025-11-11
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

City Power media statement: from 12 November 2025 all non-vending prepaid residential customers are converted to postpaid accounts, more than 2,318 having been identified; charges may be backdated up to 36 months under the by-laws, which prepaid could not do; converted accounts carry a monthly service and network capacity charge of approximately R900; stand-by-stand meter audits continue.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
City of Johannesburg — Integrated Annual Report 2024/25, including the Auditor-General's report (2026) joburg.org.za · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-ea2dfcf6248a0b0a
Publisher
Name not classified · joburg.org.za
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The City's Integrated Annual Report for the year to 30 June 2025. Section 5.5 states technical electricity losses of 9% (R1.7 billion) and non-technical losses of R4 billion (21%) against R3.4 billion (21%) the prior year, attributed to theft and bypassing of meters, illegal recalibration, damaged meters, billing errors and unmetered customers, with automated meter management and meter replacement among the responses. The Auditor-General's report reproduced in it records material electricity distribution losses of R5,669,877,000, of which non-technical losses were R3,960,207,000 (2024: R3,446,202,000). The report shows no publication day; the year is the cover year.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
City of Johannesburg — Final 2026/27 Integrated Development Plan, The People's Plan (2026) joburg.org.za · 4 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-acd72872915c46cd
Publisher
Name not classified · joburg.org.za
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The City's adopted 2026/27 Integrated Development Plan. Section 21.3.1 describes the City Power Smart Metering Programme as a revenue-recovery and energy-management tool: 6,515 smart meters installed during the 2025/26 financial year, all integrated into the advanced metering infrastructure and capable of real-time monitoring, rolled out in phases by budget with priority to high-consumption areas. The key delivery targets set a reduction in electricity distribution losses from 31.9% to 25.83% through the smart-metering rollout and grid maintenance. The document shows no publication day.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
ITWeb — City Power halts meter rollout over free electricity loophole (10 Jul 2026) itweb.co.za · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-3a387726473e3379
Publisher
Name not classified · itweb.co.za
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-07-10
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-11
Dossier created
2026-10-11
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reports City Power's July 2026 statement extending the suspension of postpaid-to-prepaid meter conversions first imposed in November 2025: customers converting without approved processes, in some cases allegedly with employee assistance; customers claiming conversions not registered on prepaid systems; tampered installations; non-vending accounts; a database audit; and a commitment that bypassed prepaid meters will be converted back to postpaid and rebilled for the full period. Also cites the Auditor-General's R11.82 billion irregular expenditure since 2021/22.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.