Pre-Paid : It’s costing you plenty.
For many people that live in residential complexes and estates as well as property developers and estate managers , pre-paid electricity is the way of life.
What many people don’t know is that pre-paid electricity comes with some significant costs that can be reduced when you are with the right service provider.
When I say significant , I MEAN significant.
Before we get into that part, let’s look at the pre-paid system structure and if you’re involved in the Body Corporate / Estate Management / Property Development side, then this will all be very familiar.
If you’re not , then this may be an eye opener!
Basically, the system works as follows:
Your pre-paid service provider sets the tariff rate that you pay when you buy pre-paid. In Gauteng, this rate varies between R1.50/kwh and R1.90 /kwh.
Working on a tariff of R1.60/kWh for this exercise , when you buy R100 worth of pre-paid, you get 62,5 kWh of electricity loaded to your meter.
Every month, the pre-paid service provider sends the statement through to the Body Corporate along with the funds collected from the pre-paid purchases made by residents during the month.
EXAMPLE OF PRE-PAID STATEMENT
On that statement, they will list the total number of units vended during that month, the rate per/kwh charged , the total value and their management fee which is usually between 15c/kWh and 18c/kwh.
So , in this example above , that the complex used 231340.30 kWh of electricity in the month @ R1.51/ kwh.
In total , this is R349375-80 in electricity revenue collected by the pre-paid service provider.
At 15c/kWh management fee, this would equate to R34701-05 that the service provider would deduct from this amount and then pay the balance of R314674.76 across to the Body Corporate who would then pay this across to the Municipality or ESKOM as per the municipal invoice.
If this is taken as an average, this would equate to R 416 418.00 per year in management fees.
For that management fee, there are no other services offered or provided – that’s just profit.
Also, should there be a dispute on the account, this is left to the Body Corporate to deal with and , unless they have a bulk meter that can measure the actual consumption and provide that to the Municipality as contrary evidence to their data, there is no real hope of resolving the issue and the account has to be paid.
Anyone who has tried to engage with a Municipality or service provider for resolving a dispute knows how frustrating and time consuming this can be.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
At present, this is the way it’s being done because there were no alternatives.
Now there is.
In late 2017, Saving Energy joined up with Edison Power SA, a specialist in pre-paid energy solutions.
See more about Edison Power SA at edisonpowersa.co.za
This company has been in utility management for the past 17 years and involved in pre-paid for the last 7.
As a registered and duly authorised Tier 1 supplier, we can now offer some incredible pre-paid solutions that OVER deliver on savings for complexes.
To give you an actual example, a recent proposal to a complex of 500 units provided the following savings:
1) A 33% reduction in Management fees worth more than R130 000 per year in savings.
2) A reduction in the kWh tariff to the residents of 10c/kWH.
3) A recovery of 10c/kwh to the Body Corporate worth R269 000 per year.
In total , this complex would reduce their annual pre-paid costs by a WHOPPING R403 000!
We are able to do this as we are a Tier 1 supplier and can negotiate directly with the power suppliers (ESKOM / MUNICIPALITIES) to provide the reduced rates to residential complexes.
Once the management of the utility account is transferred to our profile, we then have more leverage with the power supplier and we USE this to get the kwh rates reduced.
And we can do the same for your complex.
But wait, there is more.
Metering measurement and management.
Over the past few years, there have been companies that offer a metering and management service that aims to ensure that complexes are billed accurately by the providers.
In essence, the bulk meters are installed and them monitored with monthly reports delivered to the client advising of the measured consumption and then comparing that to the municipal invoice.
Should there be a discrepancy, the metering provider then engages with the municipality to resolve the issue aand ensure the client receives credits due.
Also, part of the service offering is to analyse the current tariff structure and ensure that the client is on the best possible tariff.
If this is found to be incorrect ,then the metering provider completes the application to the municipality to change the tariff structure on behalf of the client.
This service continues for as long as the service contract is in place.
Typically the costs of this service would be around R 14 000 per meter supplied and installed as well as around R1400 per month or so for the administrative service itself.
Over two years , this would equate to R97 000.
FREE BULK ELECTRICITY AND WATER METERS including Supply, installation and administration!
As a launch offer in Gauteng, we are going to supply and install Bulk Electricity and Water Meters FREE of charge as well as the monthly administration when you transfer your pre-paid management services to us.
- This means that we will monitor the usage and ensure the billing is accurate.
- We will analyse the current tariff structure and if need be engage with the municipality to change it if we feel the current tariff is not appropriate.
- We will compare the bulk meter readings from our meters to those supplied by the municipality and engage with them on your behalf to correct any over-billing and recover credits.
There is no catch, no hidden costs and there is no cost to transfer either!
I know, it sounds too good to be be true, but this is how pre-paid services SHOULD BE DONE.
All you have to do to get this is to complete the form below and upload a copy of your latest pre-paid statement and utility invoice- and if you don’t have them immediately available you can email them when you do.
We will then analyse this and provide you with a proper proposal detailing the savings we can deliver as well as confirming the FREE BULK ELECTRICITY AND WATER METER OFFER.
Remember this is worth R97 000 and all you need to do to get this is to hand us the headache of managing your utility account.
We will:
- Reduce your pre-paid management fee.
- Save your residents money on lower kwh tariff.
- Recover on kwh spend for common area costs or projects.