{"id":830969,"date":"2025-07-10T10:05:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T08:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=830969"},"modified":"2025-07-10T10:05:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T08:05:35","slug":"eskom-could-punish-homeowners-with-rooftop-solar-even-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/830969\/eskom-could-punish-homeowners-with-rooftop-solar-even-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Eskom could punish homeowners with rooftop solar even more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans who have solar systems installed could soon face an additional surcharge from Eskom and municipalities for the maintenance of the grid and distribution infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to power and energy expert, Vally Padayachee, a former Eskom and City Power executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained<\/a> that solar users who remain connected to the national grid will be charged a fixed network maintenance fee regardless of how much or how little electricity they draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWhether you use the grid or not, you\u2019ll pay a fee if you’re grid-tied. If you’re using solar for 60% of your domestic needs and still rely on Eskom for the remaining 40%, you’ll still be liable,\u201d Padayachee said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said this charge is justified on the basis that the grid remains available to these users as a backup source of electricity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if you don\u2019t use it every day, the grid has to be there at 02h00 in the morning when the sun isn\u2019t shining or the wind isn\u2019t blowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There are people working 24\/7 to keep the grid alive. That\u2019s a service you\u2019re paying for,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Padayachee stressed that people should not assume they are “off-grid” just because they are generating their own power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere’s a misnomer among users that if you’re connected to the grid but not using electricity, you’re off-grid. You’re not, you\u2019re still grid-tied,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that even holiday homes with registered but inactive connections would incur fixed charges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Padayachee said that this move would mark a shift away from the previous consumption-based fee model to one where the same network fee applies regardless of usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that the national grid is owned by Eskom and the municipalities, which are responsible for its upkeep and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These additional connections to the grid impact its performance and stability and increase the burden placed on infrastructure, necessitating additional maintenance and investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More punishment for solar users<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Wayne Duvenage, CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Households with solar systems already face notable costs to comply with Eskom\u2019s rules, which include a certification of compliance and registration with the utility by March 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some experts have highlighted that certification costs can range from R10,000 to R20,000. The looming fixed fee will be another financial punishment for solar users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this approach has drawn sharp criticism from civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wayne Duvenage, CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), described<\/a> Eskom\u2019s strategy as both irrational and self-defeating.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite frustrating. Government has been incentivising people to go off-grid, offering tax rebates and pleading with the public to find alternatives, and now they\u2019re punishing those who do,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duvenage argued that the policy targets solar users unfairly while ignoring others who have also significantly reduced their electricity usage through energy-efficient design or appliances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour neighbour could have a gas stove and gas geyser, and use almost no electricity, but they won\u2019t be charged. Yet someone with a solar system trying to do the right thing will pay more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that this inconsistency could undermine Eskom\u2019s registration drive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe public is getting frustrated. I don\u2019t think Eskom is going to get the kind of uptake they\u2019re hoping for by March or April next year,\u201d said Duvenage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also suggested that these additional fixed charges might push more people to abandon the grid entirely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve already invested in solar, spending another R20,000 on a generator or battery system is not a stretch. For bondholders, the financing is manageable. Going off-grid completely will start to look like the smarter option.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duvenage pointed out that modern gas appliances and efficient generators make full independence from Eskom increasingly viable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGas geysers and stoves are already more efficient than electric ones. Add a quiet gas generator or a small wind turbine at the coast, and you don\u2019t need Eskom at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that Eskom could end up accelerating the very trend it is trying to contain. \u201cAs these network fees kick in, people will do the math and cut Eskom completely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans who have solar systems installed could soon face an additional surcharge from Eskom and municipalities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":809477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[1164,20952,8540,853],"class_list":["post-830969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-eskom","tag-households","tag-solar","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830969"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831070,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830969\/revisions\/831070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}