From R4.39m a month to a self-funding utility programme.
The recommendation is to proceed to contracting on the Phase 1 cost-avoidance model. No capital is committed, savings begin immediately, and BMM ends the term owning the infrastructure outright.
- Zero capital outlay — UtCS finances the full R17.9m rollout
- 61.66% cost avoidance from the first month of Phase 1
- Infrastructure recovered in ~11 months, then assets transfer to BMM
- Optimisation path toward a 92.03% cost-avoidance ceiling
What the committee will want to know
None. UtCS finances the entire R17.9m metering programme — meters, installation, and the prepaid vending platform. BMM's exposure is zero at go-live; the capital is recovered through the Phase 1 service fee applied to verified cost avoidance.
Rather than charging a fixed fee, UtCS is paid a percentage of the utility cost that BMM no longer carries because residents now pay for their own metered consumption. In Phase 1 the service fee is 38.34%, meaning BMM retains 61.66% of the avoided cost from day one.
After UtCS has recovered its capital — indicatively around 11 months — the programme moves into Phase 2. Ownership of all 1,920 meters transfers to BMM and the service fee drops to 18.50%, lifting cost avoidance to 81.50%.
The NMD (Notified Maximum Demand) and water-balancing figures are presented as indicative. They depend on live load-profile analysis performed after deployment and are confirmed against real data before commitment. The signed proposal governs any discrepancy.
Through STS-compliant prepaid vending. Residents purchase electricity and water credit before consumption, which moves collections risk off BMM's balance sheet and provides near-real-time consumption data across the town.
Combining Phase 2, smart NMD load-limiting, bulk water balancing and Nano-Grid siting, the model targets a monthly utility cost of approximately R350k — a 92.03% reduction against the current R4.39m baseline.