Tariffs
Do municipal fixed charges go away when I install solar in South Africa?
No. Services, network/wires and other fixed municipal or Eskom charges usually remain after solar. Bill cut comes from avoided energy kWh at retail rates (often 320–470 c/kWh depending on metro and block). Export credits, when available, are thinner (often ~108–185 c). Model fixed charges as unchanged unless your post-SSEG tariff schedule explicitly says otherwise.
Updated 27 October 2026 · Illustrative ranges — not a formal quote or legal advice.
What “fixed” usually means on an SA bill
Metro bills commonly separate energy (c/kWh, sometimes in inclining blocks or TOU windows) from fixed lines such as service charges, network/wires charges, surcharges or levies. Cape Town Home User 2026/27 examples still show services + wires near R424/month even when energy use falls. Other metros use different names and rand amounts — always read your own annexure. Solar News 24’s savings models treat fixed lines as sticky unless a primary tariff PDF shows a solar-specific exemption.
Where the money still moves
If you cut 350 kWh/month of expensive-block import at ~400 c average, that is about R1 400/month of energy relief — before fixed charges. Exporting 50 kWh at ~150 c adds ~R75. The fixed R300–R500-class lines (metro-dependent) still print. Homes that only stare at the total rand without splitting energy vs fixed often accuse solar of “not working” when the real issue is unchanged wires charges plus poor self-use — costs & savings · metro tariffs · monthly savings.
SSEG can change the tariff shape
Some distributors move embedded generators onto specific tariffs with different fixed components or TOU structures. That can raise or reshape fixed charges even while energy savings grow. Demand the post-SSEG schedule in the quote pack; do not assume today’s prepaid token maths survives registration — SSEG registration · do I need SSEG?.
Prepaid myths
Panels do not make tokens spin backwards. Self-use slows how fast you buy units; fixed municipal charges billed on the rates account (where split) still need settlement. Confirm whether your municipality collects fixed charges on the rates bill, the electricity channel, or both — prepaid + solar.
Design implication
Because fixed charges stick, chasing tiny export yields rarely rescues a weak self-use design. Shift geyser, laundry, pool and EV into sun hours; size PV for daytime loads; add battery for evening self-use and Stages. That order attacks the c/kWh lines that actually move — how solar works · size a system.
Owner checklist (print this)
- Highlight fixed vs energy lines on the last three bills.
- Estimate avoided kWh × retail rate separately from fixed.
- Ask which tariff applies after SSEG.
- Reject quotes that promise “zero electricity bill” without fixing fixed charges.
Worked bill split (illustrative)
Suppose the energy portion of a bill falls from R2 800 to R1 200 after solar self-use, while services + wires stay R450. The customer still pays R1 650 total electricity-related lines plus rates. Calling that “solar failed” misses that energy dropped R1 600. Always show installers and family members the split table. If a sales deck promises R0 total, ask which primary tariff PDF deletes fixed charges — most do not.
City Power, eThekwini, Tshwane footnotes
Inclining prepaid blocks, TOU pilots and embedded-generation tariffs differ. A Johannesburg prepaid top-block saver may see different fixed treatment than a Cape Town Home User credit-meter account. Pull the live schedule for your distributor the month you sign — July updates move quietly.
Cape Town Home User 2026/27 — the sticky fixed line in numbers
City of Cape Town’s published Home User schedule for 2026/27 keeps a monthly Services and Wires charge of R368.96 excl. VAT / R424.30 incl. VAT. Energy is separate: about 355.95 c/kWh incl. VAT up to 600 kWh and 469.06 c/kWh above that. Residential SSEG feed-in on Home User is roughly 152.93 c/kWh incl. VAT (feed-in + incentive). Those three numbers alone explain why “zero bill” sales decks fail: you can slash the energy column and still see ~R424 print every month, while each exported kWh is worth about a third of an upper-block import. Primary: City tariff pages and Budget Annexure 6 — always re-open the live PDF the month you sign — metro tariffs · feed-in credits.
How to read any metro bill in five minutes
- Circle every line that is not c/kWh or token energy — those are your sticky costs.
- Sum the last three months of energy-only rand and divide by kWh for a rough average c/kWh (blocks and TOU distort this — treat it as a guide).
- Ask which tariff name applies after SSEG consent; some metros move embedded generators onto a different schedule with different fixed or TOU pieces.
- Separate rates, refuse and water from electricity — solar never deletes the whole municipal account.
- Rebuild the quote’s savings table with fixed charges held constant; if payback collapses, the deck was selling fantasy.
Homes that skip this ritual often blame the inverter when the real gap is unchanged wires charges plus night-heavy loads. Pair with bill still high after solar and monthly savings.
Eskom Homeflex / Gen-offset footnote
Eskom direct customers on Homeflex-style paths still see daily/fixed components and TOU energy. Gen-offset credits are not a licence to ignore the fixed side of the bill. Model the live booklet figures for your point of supply; Homeflex 1 examples discussed elsewhere on Solar News 24 (including daily fixed near the mid-R20s class) are illustrations — confirm the current Eskom schedule before you sign finance. Self-use in expensive TOU windows still leads; export/offset is secondary — Homeflex Gen-offset · TOU habits.
When fixed charges can change (not disappear)
Post-SSEG tariffs, AMI/TOU opt-ins, capacity or administration charges, and prepaid-to-credit meter swaps can reshape fixed lines. Cape Town’s new Residential Time-of-Use option (AMI required, opt-in) publishes separate administration and capacity charges alongside peak/standard/off-peak energy — a different shape, not a free pass. City Power, eThekwini and Tshwane each use their own names. Never assume today’s prepaid daily charge equals next year’s post-registration bill. Demand the post-SSEG annexure in the quote pack — SSEG registration · Cape Town Residential TOU.
Worked annual sketch (illustrative)
Assume Home User, R424/month fixed (≈R5 088/year), and you avoid 4 200 kWh/year of mixed-block import at a blended ~400 c average → about R16 800/year of energy relief. Export 600 kWh at ~153 c → ~R918. Net electricity story: large energy win, small export bonus, fixed charges almost untouched. Finance, insurance and maintenance still sit outside that table. That is a healthy solar outcome — not a failed one — as long as the family was told the fixed line would remain.
Sales-deck phrases to reject
- “Your municipal account goes to zero.”
- “Feed-in pays your wires charge.”
- “Prepaid tokens reverse after panels.”
- Payback models that omit services/wires or invent a metro-wide fixed-charge waiver without a PDF citation.
Use how to read a quote and check a quote before deposits.
Owner checklist — fixed-charge edition
- Last three bills: highlight fixed vs energy.
- Write post-SSEG tariff name on the brief.
- Savings table with fixed held constant.
- Export credit used only as a sensitivity, not the base case.
- Rates/refuse/water excluded from “electricity savings” claims.
Quick questions
Can solar ever zero my whole municipal account?
Unlikely for grid-tied homes. Energy can fall sharply; rates/refuse/water and electricity fixed charges usually remain. Off-grid is a different design with different costs.
Do feed-in credits cancel fixed charges?
No. Credits offset energy; they do not erase services/wires lines unless a specific tariff explicitly structures it that way — verify on the PDF.