City Power has confirmed that its intelligent distribution system (IDS) initiative will complement the Department of Electricity and Energy’s national smart meter rollout – both as part of South Africa’s broader effort to modernise electricity distribution and curb energy losses.
Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced the national rollout on September 25, outlining a programme to install 4,4 million smart meters across the country by 2030. The initiative aims to improve billing accuracy, reduce load reduction and theft, and enable remote load management for municipalities and Eskom.
City Power told Energize that the two systems serve different but connected purposes. “Smart meters operate at the customer interface to support accurate billing, empower consumers with usage data and allow load limiting during constrained periods. The IDS, by contrast, functions at mini-substations and transformer points to detect theft, track technical losses and strengthen network efficiency. Together, they are mutually reinforcing, forming a smart-grid ecosystem,” says Isaac Mangena, GM of Public Relations and Communication at City Power.
Pilot projects in Tshepisong, Roodepoort, Bryanston and an industrial zone revealed that theft occurs across all customer categories. City Power said the IDS improves billing accuracy and shortens response times to tampering and outages.
City Power records annual losses of about 30%, roughly R3,6 billion, with around 20% due to theft and illegal connections. “IDS is expected to reduce losses by 5-10% in its first year of full implementation,” says Mangena. “While City Power has had financial challenges, the IDS programme is a critical investment in long-term sustainability. By reducing losses and improving collections, IDS will pay for itself through recovered revenue,” he says.
Funded through municipal allocations and technology partnerships, the programme will be scaled up over the next five years.
