Deadline approaches with over 2 million prepaid electricity meters still unupdated

Eskom reports that 2.1 million prepaid electricity customers still need to upgrade their meters to Key Revision Number (KRN) 2 as the deadline approaches.

Prepaid electricity customers must update their meters by Sunday, 24 November, as required by the Standard Transfer Specification Association (STSA), and Eskom has reiterated that the deadline will not be extended. 

OVER TWO MILLION PREPAID ELECTRICITY METERS NOT YET UPDATED

Eskom said it started with a 6.9 million customer base, which has since grown to 7.5 million.

The power utility said it can confirm that 5.2 million customers are registered and buying prepaid electricity.

“At least 2.1 million customers are yet to be converted to KRN2, mainly customers who have not bought electricity in the last six – 12 months. Should these customers not buy before 24 November, then they will not be able to load tokens, and their meters may be required to be replaced at approximately R12 000,” Eskom’s distribution executive, Monde Bala, said.

Prepaid electricity meters still using KRN1 will no longer accept electricity tokens after the deadline. This means that once the customer’s current credit is depleted, they will lose power, and the meter will be inoperable, necessitating a replacement that could cost up to R12 000, which the customer will have to pay. 

HOW TO CHECK IF YOUR METER HAS BEEN UPDATE AND RE-CODE 

• Enter 1844 6744 0738 4377 241 on your prepaid electricity meter keypad. 
• If it shows 1 or 1.2 your meter still needs to be re-coded 
• If it shows 2 or 2.2, the meter is updated and requires no further action.
• To complete the re-coding, enter the first 20 digits of the re-code token. 
• Enter the second 20 digits of the re-code token. 
• Finally, enter the 20-digit token from your latest electricity purchase to recharge your prepaid electricity meter.