The Ministry of Energy has revealed that the current pre-paid electricity meters commonly known as Yaka meters will stop functioning by the 24th of November this year.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development in the Ugandan Cabinet, Ruth Nankabirwa Sentamu, announced that Yaka electricity meters won’t be operational beyond November 2024.
This has caused excitement and worry among Ugandans who are questioning the move and its authenticity; while others wonder what the next step would be.
Why your Yaka meter is ‘expiring’ this November 2024
Yaka meters run on software. It is this software that enables you to operate the meter, input tokens, and get electricity supplied to you.
The 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.
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 1993 as an industry standard to connect households to the electricity supply grid by using prepayment metering technology.
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.
Yaka meters need an upgrade to operate
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.
Electricity users who have prepaid electricity smart meters in their homes need to contact their electricity provider to check if their meters need upgrading.
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. If the meter doesn’t have credit loaded on the cut-off date it would stop dispensing electricity to the house and accept no new tokens until the update code has been entered.
https://x.com/UmemeLtd/status/1743615745131495724?s=20
But Umeme’s contract is expiring soon
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development intends to create the Uganda National Electricity Company Limited (UNECL) to take over the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity after the government decided against renewing the concessionary contracts of Eskom Limited and Umeme Limited.
Since March 1, 2003, South African company Eskom has been the country’s largest energy generator, managing and maintaining the 180MW Nalubaale and 200MW Kira hydropower plants under a 20-year concession.
Umeme on the other hand, is the main electricity distribution company, whose 20-year concession ends in March, 2025.
In a statement issued in December 2022, the ministry said UNECL will operate as a public private partnership (PPP), where the state will hold majority shareholding.
The changes that follow a cabinet directive of October 3, 2022 are part of the power sector reforms that the ministry hopes will “enhance sector performance and provide affordable power” by minimizing “expensive private capital in the electricity sub-sector.”
Industry watchers will be wary of the similarities between UNECL and the disbanded Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) that operated as a monopoly managing generation, transmission and distribution of the country’s electricity before it was unbundled in 2001 following the enactment of the Electricity Act, 1999.
The Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGCL), the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company (UETCL) and the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company (UEDCL) which replaced UEB, will now all fall under the UNECL.
While noting the contribution of Umeme and Eskom over the years, Ruth Nankabirwa, the minister of Energy directed the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) and the aforementioned electricity departments to ensure a smooth transition from Eskom and Umeme.
The ministry has already constituted a joint committee to handle the Eskom concession and is in the process of making a similar arrangement for the Umeme concession to ensure a seamless handover of the operations of the assets.
Uganda estimates it will pay Umeme Limited about $225 million to allow the utility to recoup its investments in the national grid after its concession ends in March 2025.
Additional Reporting by TechJaja
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