Eskom's Not Done, and Neither Is NERSA (Why Your Geyser Business Should Be Smiling Right Now)

November 12, 2026

Eskom's direct customers have been paying 8.76% more since 1 April 2026. Municipal customers joined the party in July, at 9.01%. And just when you thought you could exhale, NERSA has already gazetted the next one, another 8.83%, landing April 2027. Eskom giveth, Eskom taketh more.

The plot twist nobody asked for

These increases were meant to be a lot gentler, 5.36% for 2026/27 and 6.19% for 2027/28, numbers households had actually planned around. Then NERSA found a R54.7 billion hole in its own maths and quietly revised upward. Not quite a scandal, more the regulator marking its own homework and discovering it got the sum wrong. Households are the ones paying for the correction.

Translate that into rands and it stings a bit more. A household on Eskom's Homelight 20A tariff, using 350 units a month, goes from R823 to R895 if the 2027 hike lands as proposed. Meanwhile, general inflation is loitering around 3.5%. Electricity isn't just rising, it's rising like it's got somewhere to be.

The appliance nobody thinks about until it breaks

Here's the bit most homeowners never clock. Geysers account for 40 to 50% of a household's total electricity use, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Kwikot puts it at 30 to 50% too, which lands somewhere around R600 to R800 a month on a standard 150 litre unit. Nearly half the bill, running quietly in a cupboard, completely unbothered by anyone's budgeting spreadsheet.

So, tariffs climbing faster than inflation, and the single biggest line item on the bill is an appliance most people haven't thought about since the day it was installed. That's not a coincidence worth ignoring. That's a business opportunity wearing a disguise.

Where you come in

If you're already elbow deep in geyser, plumbing or solar work, this is your moment. Every tariff announcement sends a fresh wave of homeowners hunting for a way to claw back some of that bill, and a solar geyser conversion is one of the rare upgrades that actually pays for itself instead of just costing more.

Geyser Gecko converts an existing electrical geyser into a PV powered hybrid. No new tank, no plumbing overhaul, SANS XA10500 compliant, done in 3 to 5 hours. Over 3,000 units are already out there earning their keep, including one Johannesburg install that saved R1,486.78 in a single month, 89% of it solar.

For an installer, that's a job you can bill in a day, in a category that's only getting busier as the next tariff hike arrives right on schedule.

Fancy adding conversions to what you offer?

If geyser or solar work is already your thing and conversions aren't part of the package yet, that's worth a second look. We handle certified training, marketing support, and feed qualified leads straight through our installer directory.

Apply to become a certified Geyser Gecko installer →

Sources

← Back to News & Insights