Cape Town - Concerns have been raised about who will really benefit from the City’s cash for power plans.
The initiative was recently announced with the aim to incentivise commercial customers’ energy saving efforts.
It would allow businesses and residents to be paid directly for excess power produced.
However a PV system and an inverter is required, plus an Advance Metering Infrastructure fee in the range of R12 800 (current financial year).
Commercial customers will be credited with 73,87c /kWh (2022/23) plus 25c /kWh incentive for each kWh fed into the City grid. This is the main tariff. There is a little used commercial tariff of 60,91 c p/kWh for customers that wish to retain and account for the green benefit.
STOP COCT founder Sandra Dickson questioned how beneficial it would really be for residents, as those who choose to participate would be charged a fixed Basic Charge Levy, plus they would still have to pay off the AMI metre, while also having to pay high electricity tariffs.
“It is designed to maximise income for COCT, minimise losses and still milking those that feed in.
“At around R1 per unit to a feed in installation it will take decades to just break even while COCT profits from day one,” Dickson said.
Good secretary-general, Brett Herron said: “This is a scheme for the rich.
“Once again the DA-run city demonstrates that it prioritises the rich over all of the sensible solutions that can be implemented far more democratically and universally.”
He added that the City should be looking into a Property Assessed Clean Energy(PACE) programme that would be available to all homeowners, including solar water heating systems to all low income households in public housing.
“This model makes solar energy solutions accessible to all property owners, not just the rich, by collecting the payment for the system from the property owner through a special assessment on their rates bill.
“Security for the funding does not involve bonds or credit ratings and the payment is over 20 years linked to the property.
“These measures will together reduce demand and increase supply of excess renewable energy to the grid in an inclusive and democratic way.
“Any advantages of supplying additional energy to the City in return for cash will be available to us all - not just the wealthy who can self-finance expensive solar systems,” said Herron.
The City meanwhile said it was not planning to make a profit and income generated is “revenue neutral”.
“On the contrary, with the incentive included, this energy is more expensive for the City than purchasing it from Eskom (once corrected for time-periods). There is no cash for power levy,” The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Beverley van Reenen said.
Cape Times