The Just Energy Transition Municipal Forum and its secretariat will also train municipality staff and ensure the poor get access to a free electricity via a government grant, officials at a conference near Johannesburg said on Monday.
The forum is an attempt by the presidency to improve services in the country's municipalities, many of which are dysfunctional, and to prepare them for the introduction of more renewable energy in coming years.
"The municipal grid system needs to be upgraded, modernised and extended," President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the conference. "The energy generation of the future requires systems that are fundamentally different in terms of design, capability and operation."
Currently, about 80% of South Africa's electricity comes from coal-fired power plants run by Eskom.
Already, major municipalities such as Johannesburg - the country's biggest - subject residents to frequent outages due to equipment breakdowns. In poorer areas, where grids are overloaded, power is regularly shut off for hours in a programme known as load reduction.
