South African energy startup Wetility publishes municipal-level power outage data and launches public lookup tool

The dataset covers grid reliability across South African municipalities, showing average outage durations that range from under two hours to more than 24 hours depending on location

Franta Pour, chief commercial officer at Wetility

Wetility, a South African solar energy company that offers home and business energy systems through a subscription model with no upfront cost, has released what it calls the Wetility 2025 Energy Resilience Report, a publicly available dataset documenting power outage patterns across South African municipalities. Alongside the report, the company has launched an interactive tool that allows any resident to search their municipality and view a local outage profile, including average outage duration, monthly trends and a comparison against the national average.

The data reveals significant variation in grid reliability from one municipality to another. In some areas, the average power outage lasts under two hours. In others, it exceeds 24 hours. The gap reflects differences in local infrastructure condition, exposure to cable theft, and municipal revenue collection capacity, all of which affect how quickly and consistently power supply is maintained or restored.

Wetility operates a platform that combines solar installation, financing and energy monitoring. The company installs systems and recovers costs through a subscription model rather than requiring customers to pay upfront, positioning itself as a provider for households and businesses that may not have the capital for outright purchase. The outage dataset sits within that broader offering, giving potential and existing customers a way to assess how reliable grid supply is in their specific area before deciding on supplementary energy sources.

"This data makes clear that the conversation about grid reliability cannot be a national one alone," said Franta Pour, chief commercial officer at Wetility. "Many municipalities are operating under significant pressure, from ageing infrastructure and cable theft to revenue collection constraints, and that reality is reflected in the variability we see. What this dataset provides is visibility: a way for municipalities, businesses and households to better understand local conditions and make more informed decisions."