Yesterday the State Owned Enterprise that provides electricity known as Eskom stated that all solar powered systems not registered with them are illegal. They also stated that those systems that have been certified with a COC are also not recognised. What is he worst that they can do? They cannot shut me down and if push comes to a shove I could leave the grid entirely, but that does not suit my pocket currently. I would only need another $10K to make that happen as I have the basics in place and would need to add to it.
Why am I not surprised as this is nothing more than FUD by creating fear mongering not with the people who have already installed their solar, but those contemplating it. You can read them like a book as they are that simple. In many ways this reminds me of the SEC and crypto and they are trying to manipulate the situation to their own needs and not what is in the best interest of their customers.
The problem with Eskom is the people that are leaving or reducing their reliance on the grid are the ones that can afford to. These people are the ones paying their bills each month so the revenue pot is slowly reducing.
This business model is broken and is similar to the gold fish bowl scenario. If you have a 100 gold fish and 10 jump out the remaining 90 are paying the entire revenue. If another 10 jump out the remaining 80 are now paying the extra shortfall so increases will just keep on happening.
In South Africa this situation is far worse than that scenario given above with the masses having a non payment culture. The one township in Johannesburg had an 8% payment record. These people will not be cut off, but anyone else try and not pay your bill and you will be cut off within days. There are roughly 3.5 million households that qualify for free electricity and the remaining households paying their bills are subsidizing this cost over and above their usage.
I say tis latest news is FUD as this next year we are expecting 2 different price increases with the first one in January/February and the second one happening in April. If anyone is considering going the solar route this will definitely help make up their minds. There is going to be a point where you cannot afford not to have solar and I do believe Eskom is in panic mode.
If your monthly bill is costing you R6K monthly and you ran reduce that bill by 75% you would pay off a decent sized system within less than 4 years. Every year the tariffs rise the quicker that system will be paid off so who knows it could easily drop down to less than 3 years within the next two years. I do believe we could see as much as 10% of Eskom's current paying customers seek alternative power solutions.
SA has been ravaged by power cuts/load shedding for the last 17 years having first arrived on the scene back in August of 2007. Eskom has had 17 years to fix their power supply issues ad it s still on the go even though they call it by another name like maintenance upgrades. Reports suggest the big upgrades have been pushed back to 2029 so load shedding will still happen for another 5 years.
Today our area had a power cut and I had no idea until I saw the traffic lights out of action. The not having to live via a timetable and a normal life is worth the investment and I am already enjoying the benefits of not relying on the grid. I wish I had done this sooner because last year was horrific and it does impact you mentally. You are worrying about things you shouldn't like do you have enough petrol for the generator or does it need a service. I was spending close to $20 daily on fuel and you end up cooking outside on the barbeque as there was no other choice.
One has to ask can the economy survive another 5 years considering some analysts blame the drop in value of the Rand on investors having lost confidence. The problem is that the power outages have been so severe over the last 2-3 years which has impacted economic stability. Many of SA's underlying problems like high unemployment are a direct consequence of companies having no consistent power supply. Those large manufacturers that used generators spent millions of Rand to stay open and the cost saving was letting staff go.
The way I feel is that yes they will earn less revenue from my household now I have solar, but I have also freed up extra spare Kwh which they can use elsewhere. With Eskom you just cannot win and why it is best to ignore the press stories and carry on with your life.
