Eskom has installed more than 517 000 smart meters on load-reduction feeders, as it moves to eliminate the controversial electricity-supply measure by March 2027.
The power utility says 517 872 smart meters have been installed, representing about 90% of its 577 347 target for high-priority areas. The rollout is concentrated in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, which account for about 83% of the installations.
According to the state-owned company, the smart meters are being deployed in areas experiencing high levels of illegal connections, electricity theft and network overloading.
Eskom says these problems continue to cause infrastructure damage and pose safety risks, despite the national power system remaining stable and generation capacity exceeding demand.
However, the rollout has faced resistance in some communities. Eskom says safety incidents, intimidation and work stoppages have delayed installations, with more than 122 000 planned installations affected to date.
The smart meter programme forms part of Eskom’s Load-Reduction Eradication Programme, which targets 971 feeders and about 1.69 million customers across the country.
So far, 593 feeders have been removed from load-reduction, representing about 61% of the target.
Seven provinces have been completely removed from load-reduction, while an estimated 1.49 million customers, or 88% of those targeted, are no longer affected.
Eskom says the programme is also supported by the integration of distributed energy resources and the expansion of Free Basic Electricity support.
The power utility notes the number of customers affected by load-reduction has fallen from 1.69 million to 202 590, with the remaining affected customers concentrated in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. More than 60% of previously affected customers in the two provinces have already been restored to normal supply.
The progress comes as Eskom reports its strongest operational performance in six years.
The utility’s year-to-date Energy Availability Factor has risen to 68.11% for the period from 1 April to 1 October, up from 62.59% in the corresponding period last year.
Eskom says the improvement represents a 12.76 percentage-point increase compared with three years ago, with about 6 492MW of generating capacity returned to the grid.
South Africa has also reached 504 consecutive days without load-shedding since 16 May 2025.
Eskom attributes the extended period without load-shedding to improved fleet performance, fewer unplanned outages, additional generation capacity and reduced reliance on emergency generation resources.
Unplanned outages have fallen by 6.69% year-on-year, while diesel expenditure declined by R4.79 billion, or 80.49%, between 1 April and 1 October. Spending fell from R5.95 billion to R1.16 billion over the period.
At the same time, Eskom says it has 6 722MW in cold reserve because of excess capacity, providing additional system assurance.
The utility says the combination of improved generation performance and targeted network interventions is putting it on course to end load-reduction by March 2027.
Share
