Components of the Eskom Tariffs
Depending on the tariff, the following components may be a component of your bill:
(Active) energy charge is a charge linked to each kWh (unit of energy) consumed. For some tariffs the charge may be time and/or seasonally differentiated.
Administration charge is a fixed R/day charge payable per premise over the billing period whether electricity is consumed or not, and based on the monthly utilised capacity of the premise. It is a contribution towards fixed costs such as meter reading, billing and meter capital.
Annual utilised capacity is the higher of the customer’s NMD or maximum demand, measured in kVA, registered during a rolling 12-month period.
Capital cost is the expenditure on plant, equipment and other resources in order to make capacity available i.e. providing a new supply, network upgrades, network downgrades, etc. Capital costs are recovered through rate components (capital contained in the tariff) and connection charges (payable in addition to the tariff).
NOTE: The capital contained in the tariff will be subtracted up front from the cost of providing supply. This adjustment for capital recovery is called the capital allowance.
Chargeable demand is taken as the highest average demand, in kVA, measured over any demand-integrating period of thirty consecutive minutes (30-minute integrating periods) recorded during the chargeable time periods in a billing month.
Connection fee is a portion of the connection charge and is the minimum, once-off, up-front payment charged to a customer for new or additional capacity (initial customer contribution).
Connection charge is the repayment of the capital cost not covered by the tariff for new or additional capacity. It is a contribution towards the recovery of network capital costs and is payable in addition to the tariff charges as a monthly connection charge (charged monthly where Eskom finances) and/or as an up-front payment.
Energy demand charge, applicable to Nightsave (Urban) and Nightsave (Rural), is a R/kVA charge per premise which is seasonally differentiated and is based on the chargeable demand registered during the month in order to recover peak energy costs.
Maximum demand is the highest demand recorded during all time periods in a billing month.
Monthly utilised capacity is the higher of the customer’s NMD or maximum demand, measured in kVA, registered during the billing month.
Network charge is a fixed charge payable per premise every month, whether electricity is consumed or not. The purpose of the network charge is to recover part of the fixed network costs (including capital, operations, maintenance and refurbishment) associated with the provision of network capacity required and reserved by the customer. For some tariffs the network charge is unbundled into a Network Demand Charge (NDC) and/or a Network Access Charge (NAC).
• Network demand charge is a charge that recovers network costs on a variable basis and is payable for the chargeable demand registered during the month.
• Network access charge is a charge that recovers network costs on a fixed basis and is based on the annual utilised capacity.
Notified Maximum Demand (NMD) is the maximum demand notified in writing by the customer and accepted by Eskom, that the customer requires Eskom to be in a position to supply on demand during all time periods. It is normally the capacity that Eskom will reserve for a customer for the short term, i.e. the following year.
NOTE: The notification of demand will be governed by a set of rules
Point of Supply means the point at which the customer’s electrical installation is connected to Eskom’s distribution/transmission system. This may or may not be the metering point. (Also see Premise.)
Premise or Point of Delivery means either a single Point of Supply or a specific group of Points of Supply located within a single substation, at which electricity is supplied to the customer at the same declared voltage and tariff, and can be a metering or summation point.
Rate-rebalancing levy is a separate rate component, previously bundled in the energy rates, shown on the Nightsave (Urban), Megaflex and Miniflex customers’ bills and indicating inter-tariff subsidies (subsidies between tariffs) in a more transparent manner. The rate-rebalancing levy will be applied to the total active energy consumption and will not be subject to the voltage and/or transmission surcharge.
NOTE: Historically Nightsave (Urban), Megaflex and Miniflex make different contribution towards subsidies and the rate-rebalancing levy will therefore differ for each tariff
.
Reactive energy charge is a charge applicable to Megaflex, Miniflex and Ruraflex and is based on the reactive power used. It is levied on every kvarh (reactive energy) which is registered in excess of 30% of the kWh (active energy) supplied during the specified periods of the month. There is no reactive energy charge for a customer operating with a lagging power factor of 0,96 or better. The method of calculating this excess differs and is described with the respective tariff.
Security deposit is a once-off refundable payment or guarantee provided by a customer to Eskom as security for the due payment of electricity accounts.
Service charge is a fixed R/day charge payable per account over the billing period, whether electricity is consumed or not. Where applicable, this charge will be based on the sum of the monthly utilised capacity of all premises linked to an account. It is a contribution towards fixed costs such as customer service costs. For the Homepower, Landrate and Businessrate tariffs the service costs and administration costs are combined to make up the service charge and are charged per premise.
Transmission surcharge is a charge to partly recover the costs associated with the transmission of energy over long distances. The energy demand charge (where applicable), active energy charge, reactive energy charge (where applicable) and network charge are subject to a transmission surcharge after the voltage surcharge has been levied. The surcharge rate depends on the distance from Johannesburg and is described with the respective tariffs.
< 300 km 0%
> 300 km and < 600 km 1%
> 600 km and < 900 km 2%
> 900 km 3%
Voltage surcharge is a percentage surcharge levied to customers with lower supply voltages as a contribution to the cost to transform electricity from 400 kV to lower voltages. It is calculated as a percentage of the active energy charge, the energy demand charge (where applicable) and the network charge to reflect the higher cost at lower voltage.
