Midvaal electricity tariffs 2026/27 for businesses

Which Midvaal tariff is your business on?

Supply size decides the default tariff: below 100 kVA a business pays the flat non-domestic rate, and with a notified maximum demand of 100 kVA or more it pays the two-part tariff. Sites above 25 kVA can ask for the Off-peak tariff instead, and sites from 200 kVA can choose Miniflex, or Megaflex from 1 MW.

This page covers business accounts that Midvaal Local Municipality supplies itself. Its 2026/27 Integrated Development Plan lists that supply area as including Meyerton, Riversdale, Risiville and its small farms at Waldrift, Kookrus, Golf Park, McKay Estates, the Vaal Marina area and the R59 corridor. Eskom supplies other parts of the municipality directly, among them Henley-on-Klip, Highbury, De Deur, Daleside and parts of Walkerville, and those sites pay Eskom’s tariffs. The supplier named on your invoice settles which you are. Residential, agricultural and the special bulk arrangements are out of scope.

Table 1: Midvaal’s business tariffs at a glance, 2026/27

Ex VAT, valid 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, from Midvaal’s signed 2026/27 schedule, whose item numbers follow each tariff’s name. Reactive energy is billed only on Miniflex and Megaflex. Bulk supplies under item 8, of 2,000 kVA and more with a capital contribution, pay R3.5474 per kWh and R320.72 per kVA at 400 V.

1. Non-domestic tariff (below 100 kVA)

The non-domestic tariff covers businesses, industries, hotels, private hospitals, schools, clubs and mixed loads below 100 kVA, on a conventional or prepaid meter. It charges one flat rate, R4.6894 per kWh, at every hour in both seasons, and its availability charge is R0.00. If the notified or registered maximum demand exceeds 100 kVA, the schedule moves the account onto the two-part tariff.

Midvaal’s own Tariff Policy disagrees. It puts the two-part threshold at a notified maximum demand of 71 kVA, below the schedule’s 100 kVA, so a site between the two should read its tariff off the invoice rather than assume it.

2. Two-part tariff (100 kVA and above)

The two-part tariff charges a flat energy rate plus a demand charge on the month’s metered maximum demand: R3.4507 per kWh and R311.97 per kVA at 400 V, or R3.4751 per kWh and R305.20 per kVA at 11 kV. The medium-voltage energy rate sits above the low-voltage one, as printed and as NERSA approved it.

The two-part tariff’s demand rules are simple. There is no minimum demand, no twelve-month floor and no network access charge, so a lower peak shows on the next bill. The schedule does not say which hours count, so plan on demand at any time of the month counting until your invoice shows otherwise. Why demand runs high and how to bring it down: kVA and maximum demand charges in Gauteng.

3. Off-peak tariff (above 25 kVA, on request)

The Off-peak tariff swaps a low energy rate for a high demand charge counted from 06:00 to 22:00: R2.1532 per kWh at all hours, plus R674.57 per kVA at 400 V, or R642.51 at 11 kV, on the highest demand registered between 06:00 and 22:00. Demand at night does not count. A business above 25 kVA can ask Midvaal to apply it.

On our reading of the rates, the Off-peak tariff costs less than the two-part tariff only when a site uses more than about 279 kWh a month for every kVA of its peak between 06:00 and 22:00, assuming the same peak is billed on both. Continuous processes and night shifts are the sites most likely to clear that bar.

4. Miniflex and Megaflex (time of use)

Miniflex and Megaflex are Midvaal’s time-of-use tariffs: they price energy by season and hour. Miniflex, for 200 to 5,000 kVA, has no demand charge and no fixed charge at all. Megaflex, for 1 MW and above and not available on rural networks, adds a demand charge of R205.03 per kVA in both seasons.

Table 2: Miniflex and Megaflex energy rates, 2026/27 (R/kWh, ex VAT)

Summer is September to May, winter June to August. Megaflex demand R205.03 per kVA a month, on a 30-minute integration. Reactive energy: Miniflex 76.68 c/kVArh and Megaflex 97.32 c/kVArh, above 30% of kWh, a power factor of about 0.96.

A winter peak kWh on Miniflex costs 5.6 times a winter off-peak kWh, and at R11.59 it is the most expensive energy in Midvaal’s book.

When are Midvaal’s peak hours?

Midvaal’s 2026/27 schedule prints weekday peaks of 07:00 to 10:00 and 18:00 to 20:00 in summer (September to May), and 06:00 to 09:00 and 17:00 to 19:00 in winter (June to August). Saturdays have standard hours from 07:00 to 12:00 and 18:00 to 20:00, and Sundays are off-peak all day. The clock matters only on Miniflex and Megaflex.

Midvaal’s schedule contradicts itself on the clock. The printed windows are Eskom’s clock from before April 2025, yet the line printed just before them says Megaflex and Miniflex times “are the same as the Eskom times”. Eskom moved its own clock on 1 April 2025, to a two-hour morning peak and a three-hour evening peak: weekday peaks of 07:00 to 09:00 and 18:00 to 21:00 in summer, and 06:00 to 08:00 and 17:00 to 20:00 in winter. Our Ekurhuleni tariff page shows that clock in full.

The difference between the two clocks lands in solar hours. Between 09:00 and 10:00 in summer, and 08:00 and 09:00 in winter, the printed clock bills peak where Eskom’s current clock bills standard. If you are on Miniflex or Megaflex, ask Midvaal which clock your meter is programmed with, or check the period split on a recent invoice, before you value solar or a battery against it.

What is a solar kWh worth on each Midvaal tariff?

A kWh of solar used on site saves between R1.81 and R11.59 in Midvaal in 2026/27, depending on the tariff and the hour, and a kWh exported to the grid earns nothing.

Table 3: What solar used on site avoids, per Midvaal tariff, 2026/27

Energy line only, ex VAT, from Midvaal’s signed 2026/27 schedule. Demand savings are not included. Export is valued at zero because Midvaal pays nothing for it, as the export section explains.

A worked example on the two-part tariff. Take an illustrative business at 400 V that uses 60,000 kWh a month and peaks at 250 kVA. Its bill before solar is R285,034.50 a month ex VAT: R207,042.00 for energy and R77,992.50 for demand.

• Without batteries, solar typically covers 30 to 50% of a business’s consumption across the plants we operate. At the low end, 30%, the system supplies 18,000 kWh a month used on site.
• At R3.4507 per kWh, that saves R62,112.60 a month, 21.8% of the bill, leaving R222,921.90.
• Across the plants we operate, solar typically trims billed demand by about 10%, with a range of 5 to 25%. Here 10% would be 25 kVA, worth another R7,799.25 a month, but only in months when the peak half-hour falls in sunshine. It is an extra on top of the energy saving and is left out of the R62,112.60.
• On the Off-peak tariff, the same site would pay R297,834.50 a month. It uses 240 kWh per kVA of peak, below the 279 kWh break-even.

Inputs are illustrative: consumption, peak and solar share are examples, not a measured site. Solar output varies by month, so a real case uses 12 months of interval data.

Does solar reduce Midvaal’s demand and reactive charges?

Solar reduces a Midvaal demand charge only when it is producing during the half-hour that sets the month’s peak, and it removes reactive charges only where the inverters are set up to support power factor.

Does solar reduce the demand charge?

Whether solar reduces a Midvaal demand charge depends on which hours the tariff counts. On the two-part tariff and Megaflex the schedule names no hours, so an evening or early-morning peak counts and solar cannot reach it. On the Off-peak tariff only 06:00 to 22:00 counts, which overlaps daylight but includes the evening. Across the plants we operate, solar typically trims billed demand by about 10%, with a range of 5 to 25%. Model the energy saving first and show any demand saving separately. Where the demand line is the target, peak shaving with a battery or load control is the deliberate tool.

Does Midvaal charge for poor power factor?

Midvaal bills reactive energy only on Miniflex and Megaflex, when reactive energy exceeds 30% of the kWh, a power factor of about 0.96. Miniflex judges it on the billing period’s totals, and Megaflex per half-hour in peak and standard periods. The flat, two-part and Off-peak tariffs carry no reactive charge, but the two-part and Off-peak demand charges are billed in kVA, so a poor power factor still raises those bills. A correctly installed and configured inverter can supply reactive power and bring the power factor closer to 1. Ask your solar provider to design and commission power-factor correction from the start.

What does solar leave on the bill?

No line on a Midvaal business bill is fixed, so nothing is out of solar’s reach in principle. What stays is the energy used at night and on dark days, and demand set outside sunshine hours. Reaching those takes a battery or load shifting as well as panels.

Can you sell solar power back to Midvaal?

Midvaal pays nothing for solar power exported to its grid in 2026/27, because its schedule has no export tariff. Its Embedded Generation Policy allows power to flow back into the grid “but no financial compensation will be given” until NERSA approves a small-scale embedded generation tariff.

If NERSA later approves an export tariff for Midvaal, the municipality’s connection contract already sets the rules. Export credits would be offset against energy charges only, never against demand or other charges. A credit would carry forward from month to month, never be paid out, and be cleared to zero at the end of the municipal financial year.

If an exported kWh earns nothing, why build a plant larger than what the site can use in daylight? Size the system for self-consumption, and treat any spill to the grid as a loss to design out with export limiting, a battery or a smaller array.

Registration is compulsory before you connect:

• Every grid-tied or hybrid solar system, and any backup generator that can connect to the grid, must be registered with Midvaal. Fully off-grid systems are exempt.
• The application fee is R1,893.72 ex VAT for 2026/27. Midvaal ran a registration window at half the fee from 1 September to 30 December 2025 and warned of penalties for systems still unregistered after it closed, without publishing an amount.
• Midvaal’s written consent is needed before connecting. The system must meet NRS 097-2-1, use an approved bi-directional meter and come with a signed commissioning report.
• Sites supplied directly by Eskom follow Eskom’s process, not Midvaal’s.

Our guide to choosing a solar EPC partner covers who may do the work and who should sign it off.

Should you switch to Miniflex or Megaflex in Midvaal?

Switch to Miniflex or Megaflex only once you have Midvaal’s terms in writing, because its schedule shares the first five years’ savings with the council. In the first year after a business moves from a non-domestic tariff (item 3 of the schedule, which includes the two-part tariff) to Megaflex or Miniflex, the customer receives 10% of “the actual savings achieved” and the council keeps 90%.

Table 4: Midvaal’s conversion surcharge, item 4.4 of the 2026/27 schedule

The schedule does not say how “actual savings” are measured, whether savings from solar or a battery count, or what happens after year five. It names Megaflex and Miniflex only, so the Off-peak tariff is not covered. A time-of-use tariff can still pay for a site that uses most of its energy in standard and off-peak hours, but the share changes the payback, so build it into the comparison.

How much did Midvaal electricity tariffs increase in 2026/27?

Midvaal raised every rate on its business tariffs by 10.00% on 1 July 2026, after NERSA approved the increase on 30 April 2026; sundry and connection charges rose 6%. The 2025/26 increase was 12.70%.

NERSA’s own analysis of Midvaal’s costs supported 11.62%, and the municipality applied for 10.00% to limit the impact on customers. Its bulk purchases from Eskom were forecast to rise 9.01%. A council item of March 2026 refers to an increase of 21.9%: that was the cost-of-supply outcome, and it is not the increase NERSA approved.

Over three years, from 2023/24 to 2026/27, every rate on Midvaal’s business tariffs rose 40.0%, because each schedule moved all of them by one percentage: 12.91%, 12.70% and then 10.00%.

Ex VAT, as printed in Midvaal’s signed schedules for 2024/25 and 2026/27, whose prior-year columns give 2023/24 and 2025/26. Bar labels rounded for space.

Table 5: Midvaal’s business tariffs by year, against Eskom’s bulk increase to municipalities

Ex VAT. Midvaal’s increases as printed on page 1 of each signed schedule; Midvaal’s media statement of July 2024 gave 12.72% for 2024/25, but every line in the signed schedule rose 12.91%. Eskom’s increases from 1 July, from Eskom’s statements and NERSA’s 2025/26 retail tariff decision.

Buying power from Eskom is most of what a Midvaal kWh costs: bulk purchases make up 78% of the costs NERSA assessed for 2026/27. Midvaal’s increase has tracked Eskom’s bulk increase, running slightly above it in each of the last three years.

In each of the last three schedules, every rate on the business tariffs moved by the same percentage, so the structure of a Midvaal bill is stable. A business case built on your own interval data against this schedule can simply be re-run each July.

What should a Midvaal business do next?

A Midvaal business should start from its own invoice and meter data, in this order:

1. Read the supplier and the tariff off your invoice: Midvaal or Eskom, and which Midvaal item.
2. Get twelve months of half-hourly interval data for the meter.
3. Price that data on each tariff you qualify for. The Off-peak tariff only pays above about 279 kWh a month per kVA of peak between 06:00 and 22:00.
4. Before moving to Miniflex or Megaflex, get the conversion surcharge terms from Midvaal in writing.
5. On a time-of-use tariff, confirm which clock your meter runs before valuing solar or a battery.
6. Size solar for daytime use on site and count export as zero.
7. Register the system with Midvaal before connecting it, and budget for the R1,893.72 application fee.
8. Ask any provider to show the demand saving separately from the energy saving, and to commission power-factor correction.

Sources

• Midvaal Local Municipality, “2. Electricity Tariffs”, 2026/27 schedule, signed by the Acting Executive Director Engineering, valid from 1 July 2026 (posted June 2026): every rate, the clock, the conversion surcharge, the SSEG fee. Source document
• NERSA, Decision and Reasons for Decision, Midvaal Local Municipality tariff application for 2026/27, decision of 30 April 2026: the 10.00% approval, the 11.62% cost-based outcome, the 9.01% bulk purchase forecast and its 78% share of costs, the 12.70% of 2025/26. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, “2. Electricity Tariffs”, 2025/26 schedule: the same printed clock. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, “2. Electricity Tariffs”, 2024/25 schedule, signed: the 2023/24 and 2024/25 rates and the 12.91% increase. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, “Electricity Tariff 2023-2024”, signed 3 May 2023: the 15.10% increase. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, final Integrated Development Plan 2026/27, printed pages 50 to 54: Midvaal’s licensed supply area and the areas Eskom reticulates directly; Annexure A3 marks Daleside “Eskom area of supply”. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, Embedded Generation Policy, April 2024, clause 9.5: no compensation for export until a NERSA-approved SSEG tariff. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, Contract for the Connection of an Embedded Generator, April 2024, clause 8.3: how export credits would work. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, SSEG registration FAQ, September 2025: who must register, Eskom-supplied customers excluded. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, “Midvaal Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) Policy & Registration”, 17 September 2025: the 1 September to 30 December 2025 registration window and the penalty warning. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, draft budget policies 2026/27, Tariff Policy: the 71 kVA threshold. Source document
• Midvaal Local Municipality, Final Budget Document 2026/27, May 2026: the 21.9% cost-of-supply result and the 10% increase (p.18), and the Tariff Policy adopted with the budget. Source document
• Eskom, “Eskom implements NERSA decision for Financial Year 2027”, 16 March 2026: the 9.01% bulk increase to municipalities from 1 July 2026. Source document
• NERSA, Reasons for Decision on Eskom’s retail tariff and structural adjustment application for 2025/26, 11 March 2025: the 11.32% increase to municipalities. Source document
• Eskom, “FY2025 Tariffs”: the 12.72% increase to municipalities for 2024/25. Source document
• Eskom, “Eskom clarifies the 18.65% tariff increase”, 18 March 2023: the 18.49% increase to municipalities for 2023/24. Source document
• Eskom, Schedule of Standard Prices for Eskom Tariffs, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 (local authority supplies 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027), Appendix A, section 48, Figure 2: Eskom’s current time-of-use clock. Source document
• Eskom, Schedule of Standard Prices for Eskom Tariffs, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, section 3.2: the change to a two-hour morning peak and a three-hour evening peak. Source document

Common questions