Answering the question of how much your electricity bill should cost per month is like asking how long a piece of string is. It could be just about anything because so many factors play a role in determining it.
Your electricity bill at the end of every month is a result of your particular tariff bracket, your consumption habits, your overall demand, whether you’re a residential or commercial user, whether you’re buying through a municipality or directly from Eskom, and much more.
As a Proportion of Income
According to a 2017 report published by Sustainable Energy Africa, if you’re spending more than 10% of your income on electricity costs, then you’re considered ‘energy poor’. However, with Eskom recently raising its tariffs at the start of April 2025, many households may now find themselves spending more than 14% of their income on energy costs.
This is not ideal.
For businesses, if electricity costs rise too high relative to revenue, it can lead to financial strain, reduced profitability, and even business closures.
Although there is no universal rule for business consumption – since businesses differ so greatly in their demand – if your electricity bill has risen to around 30% of your overall operating costs, it generally becomes unsustainable.
Tariffs and Consumption
Since Eskom has implemented a tariff increase of 12.74% for direct customers, as approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, costs are going to go up significantly. This adjustment affects the cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for residential users.
However, calculating the average household electricity bill can be tricky, since Eskom offers so many different tariff plans. What’s more, homes range from single-bedroom flats to sprawling mansions, while many homes have energy-saving installations like solar panels, solar geysers, and gas stoves.
The best way to determine what your expected residential electricity bill will be every month is to use Eskom’s official residential electricity cost calculator.
This tool will prompt you to enter the town in which you live, the size of your house in square metres, the number of occupants, the kinds of appliances you have and how often they’re used, and whether you have any energy-saving installations.
For commercial users, the process is a little more tricky and requires manual calculations. For an accurate answer, you might want to consider a professional energy audit. An energy audit will not only tell you what your electricity bill should be but also what it could be if you implemented a few energy-saving interventions.
If you feel that your electricity bill is too high, then perhaps there are ways for you to reduce it through power factor correction or a comprehensive utility audit. Contact us at Energy Management Solutions today to get started on reducing your energy costs.