Load Shedding FAQ's

General comment

The only way that eThekwini Electricity can contribute to the national requirement for a rapid reduction of load when Eskom’s generation capacity is about to be exceeded is to use the remote control facilities at our central Control Centre to switch out transformers and/or feeder circuits at major substations. It is impossible to send staff into the field to switch the thousands of circuit breakers in our area of supply, particularly given that the switching for each block has to be reversed 2 hours later.

It has therefore been necessary to identify those circuits that are remote controlled and are associated with predominantly residential load. Unavoidably these are inherently relatively large blocks of load and will always include some commercial and/or industrial load.

Q.Why am I affected when I know of other areas which have not experienced load shedding?

This will be for one of two reasons. The areas not affected are on the same transformer or circuit, which supplies a major hospital, water works, sewerage station or other critical load that would have a serious regional impact if isolated. Centres with predominantly high-rise buildings are also avoided.  The other reason would be that the particular circuit cannot be opened and closed without sending staff to operate this manually.

Q.Will load shedding occur every day?

Load shedding is required when the national demand is predicted to exceed the generation capacity connected to the national grid at that particular time and eThekwini Electricity does not have direct and continuous access to either these demand or capacity measures. However, it is known that Eskom used the festive season (where the national demand would be at its lowest) to maintain generation plant, which will be put back into service as quickly as possible. The week starting 14 January 2008, when a number of large industries were expected to restart, was always predicted to be a tight week. While Eskom have publicly stated that the shortage of generation will be a problem for several years to come, it is reasonable to assume that this particular week does not represent the norm.

Q.Why not do load shedding at night?

Load shedding has to take place immediately the load is predicted to exceed generation capacity. The load normally exceeds generation capacity during the day when businesses are using electricity and in the early morning and evening when most households are using electricity. Late at night and on weekends when there is low load, there is a less likelihood of the load exceeding generation capacity and hence a less likelihood of load shedding being required.

Load shedding can become necessary at night and on weekends if, for example, Eskom has used the lower load usage during these times to perform essential maintenance on generation plant. In this case the generation capacity will be lower than normal and any additional un-planned loss of generation capacity will result in load shedding being necessary.

Q.Will eThekwini Council compensate me for losses?

As covered by the general comments above, eThekwini is simply responding to the national situation and cannot be held liable for any interruption. As no electricity utility worldwide can guarantee supply at all times, customers must provide for the possibility of an interruption of supply at any time.

Q.Why does the schedule provide for 2½ hours for each block?

The principle of 2-hour blocks still applies but some overlap has to be expected to provide for the numerous switching steps involved. At the end of the 2 hours the circuits of the next block have to be isolated before the circuits of the previous block can be restored or this would defeat the purpose of load shedding. The principle of 2 hour blocks still applies but it is necessary to indicate an overlap which could be as long as 30 minutes.

Q.Why is there a new schedule?

After one week of almost continuous load shedding feedback from customers showed that this could be improved.  In particular, a special effort was made to limit all affected customers to only one ‘peak-time’ period each day when load shedding is most likely to be required or where feedback indicates the period to be most inconvenient.

Q.Will there be more changes to the schedule?

As customers will become familiar with the blocks that affect them, further changes will be avoided. However, eThekwini values constructive comments and suggestions and will certainly take these into account if practical. It must also be recognised that Eskom might require a greater load reduction than each defined block will provide. If that situation were to be experienced regularly, blocks of load including commercial and light industrial customers would have to be developed for a Stage 2 Load Shedding schedule.

Q.Will I always be in the same block?

Distribution substations are supplied from major substations by multiple circuits and it is possible that the source of supply could be changed for reasons outside of load shedding. While this does not happen often (and usually returned to the normal state after a period), it is possible that this would result in the customer being associated with a different block

Q.Will you stick to the schedule?

Every effort will be made to follow the schedule but it must be recognised that Eskom might require a greater or lesser load reduction than each defined block will provide, in which case other non-prescribed loads will have to be selected based on the prevailing circumstances. On the other hand, it may not be necessary to switch off all areas in the scheduled block to achieve Eskom’s load requirement at the given time. Areas will only be turned off according to the schedule if Eskom requires the reduction of load.

Q.Does it help load shedding to turn off my geyser?
 
Geysers are a big part of the load in an average home, typically anything from 30 to 40 % of the total electricity account. Switching off geysers has the potential to reduce the network demand significantly (and therefore the risk of load shedding) but only if they remain off until after the system high demand period as is indicated by Eskom on national television and the Internet.

Another significant contribution can be made by reducing the temperature control settings of all geysers and by insulating the geyser with an approved Geyser Blanket available from most plumbing outlets. 

Q. Does switching off my geyser result in additional energy costs or savings?

Switching off geysers will not result in additional costs for energy. In fact, the energy losses will be lower as the water in the geyser cools down but, as modern geysers are fairly well insulated, these savings are small.

Q. How long can my freezer stay off before the quality of the food deteriorates?

This cannot be answered directly as it depends on the working temperature of the freezer and the effectiveness of the seals. It is, however, strongly advised to avoid opening the freezer and fridge compartments during an interruption of supply, as this will have a significant affect.
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Q. Should I switch off appliances during load shedding?

Ensuring that appliances are switched off during any interruption of supply is advisable, simply because this ensures that they will not turn on when the supply is restored and create an unsafe situation. This also assists the restoration of supply process, as it will avoid high ‘waiting loads’ with the potential to cause an overload trip of an individual circuit. This would require staff to be dispatched to the point of supply and therefore result in an extended interruption.