The TID rollover for electricity meter software upgrade in South Africa has quietly started rolling out, with various municipalities following different procedures to update the software. Here is why and what to expect.

Current Standard Transfer Specification (STS) prepaid meter software will expire in 2024, and any meter that has not been re-coded by 24 November 2024 will not upload prepaid tokens. This would leave customers without an electricity supply, hence a concerted effort to now update the meters.

The globally adopted STS for prepayment metering protects against the reuse of such tokens using a unique Token Identifier (TID). The STS was created in South Africa in 1993 as an industry standard to support Eskom’s mission at the time of “electricity for all”. Eskom set out to connect 10 million households to the electricity supply grid by using prepayment metering technology.

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The TID is a 240-bit field, embedded in STS compliant tokens, that identifies the date and time of the token generation and represents the minutes elapsed since 1 January 1993.

As with any data type, there is a point when the maximum value is reached. Thus, on 24 November 2024, the TID value will roll back to zero and any tokens generated after this date will be rejected by a meter as being an old token. All STS compliant meters are affected by this TID rollover and it is therefore imperative that all users of the technology implement a TID rollover programme.

How many electricity smart meters need updating?

TID rollover project coordinator for STS Association Riccardo Pucci told ESI Africa they had not seen much feedback about how software updates were going until mid-2021, apart from a few places in the Cape. “However, over the last few months there has been some noticeable movement in the field, both local and international, which is promising,” said Pucci.

He said it was difficult to estimate just how many meters needed upgrading as they cannot attest to how many manufacturers are producing meters on the new base date.

“If a meter is produced on the old base date (1993) it will need to be upgraded. However, if it is produced on the new 2014 base date, it does not need to be upgraded,” explained Pucci.

Electricity users who have prepaid electricity smart meters in their homes need to contact their electricity provider to check if their meters need upgrading.

Pucci warned that update codes (also known as key change tokens) must be entered into the meters before 24 November 2024, or the smart meter will stop accepting new credit tokens. He advised that people don’t miss the cut-off date because if the meter doesn’t have credit loaded on the cut-off date it would stop dispending electricity to the house and accept no new tokens until the update code has been entered.

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Researching update methods and communication channels

In South Africa, some electricity users receive their power directly from Eskom, while others are clients of their local municipality, all of whom are following different schedules and procedures to update the smart meters.

Eskom spokesman Sikonathi Mantshantsha advised ESI Africa that they have direct responsibility for about 6.5 million meters in South Africa that will need upgrading. The utility has three options to update the meters in their Key Revision Number rollover project:

• In areas where smart meters are installed, remote key change will be the preferred option;
• Customers will also be allowed to load their meters with key change tokens when purchasing a credit token; and
• In certain areas, field technicians will be deployed to perform manual key change token updates.

A pilot project kicked off in September 2021 in Riverside in Fourways for six months to help Eskom gauge what process works best. Already they know a visit by a technician to a home takes about 15 minutes to complete, so the completion of the pilot project will tell them how long it will take to follow that route.

Eskom in Gauteng says they are using various communication channels such as customer SMS campaigns, media statements, social media platforms and the area ward councillors’ community WhatsApp group to keep people informed about the update and they will communicate with specific areas before the update hits their suburb.

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Durban using Advanced Metering Infrastructure for remote control update to smart meters

Ethekwini Municipality will also use a multifaceted approach with their direct customers, either sending codes directly to the meters or technicians to homes to do the update.

Speaking with ESI Africa, Ethekwini Municipality spokesman Sibongakonke Mbatha pointed out that not all prepaid meters are necessarily smart meters, but where necessary the update will be “done via the Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Head End System which allows the Municipality to communicate with the meters directory. The rest of the customers who have non-smart prepaid meters will be made aware as and when their areas are scheduled for the update.

“The schedule will be made available to customers once the system upgrade has been finalised,” said Mbatha.

“It must be noted that the update requires two key change tokens to be loaded on the meter in a sequence. If the sequence is not followed correctly, the meter may not be updated and hence the option of using customers to load the two tokens on their meters may result in challenges of some meters not being updated correctly. This option will be used as a last resort,” said Mbatha.

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Cape Town is following the customer input route

The City of Cape Town started its update last year in areas up the West Coast and recently moved on to Parklands, Milnerton and environs. The update moves onto Goodwood, Parow and Plattekloof from February 1 and the phased approach is expected to conclude in 2024 ahead of the cut off date on 24 November.

ESI Editor Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl, who is Cape Town-based, has just updated her smart meter said it was a hassle-free process. “There is no change to how you purchase your units. However, customers will receive three pin numbers in one message. Each 20-digit pin is identified in the order in which they are entered into the meter. The first two are the key change pin and the third is the electricity pin for the units purchased.”

Electricity meter software upgrade is free

For security reasons any Eskom technicians who seek entry to homes to conduct the electricity meter software upgrade must display Eskom identity cards. You can call the Eskom Contact Centre on 0860 03 75 66 from Monday to Saturday between 8am and 4pm to check credentials. Please note no payment is required to make the meter software upgrade.

Members of the public are urged to report demands for payment for meter upgrades to the South African Police Services and to the Eskom Contact Centre or call the Eskom Crime Line on 0800 11 27 22.

Electricity customers who deal directly with their municipality should check their websites for the upgrade schedule. City of Cape Town has a detailed FAQ document online which spells out why the upgrade is happening as well as a schedule detailing when each suburb will be upgraded. ESI