Load Shedding - "We are not saving enough"

22 May, 2008

Click here for the New Load Shedding Schedule

eThekwini Is Still Not Saving Enough Despite the announcement by Eskom to suspend load shedding with immediate effect, the eThekwini Municipality remains on standby in the event that Eskom requires any emergency load shedding. But the Head of Electricity Sandile Maphumulo warned that eThekwini residents were still not saving enough power. ‘ The suspension of load shedding does not mean we are off the hook. We need to reduce usage by 10%, Durban is still not saving enough.’ In the event that Eskom instructs the municipality to implement emergency load shedding the schedule that was in place at the time of the suspension will come into effect.  The decision to suspend load shedding was announced by Eskom's CEO, Jacob Maroga, on 30 April 2008 and came into effect on the 5th of May. "eThekwini Municipality will keep you informed of any developments that may arise with regard to load shedding", Said Maphumulo.

The background to load-shedding is well known and eThekwini Electricity is obliged to comply with Eskom’s requirements to ensure that the national generation does not totally fail. It is also well publicized that an immediate solution is to save a target of 10% of the national electricity energy consumption.

The load-shedding schedule introduced in January 2008 was limited to circuits which supplied predominantly residential areas as this was  considered the best way to comply when load-shedding was only employed when Eskom anticipated a critical situation. 

There were, however, inequities which could not be avoided as, for practical reasons, the circuits have to be switched remotely from our control centre and these control points are inherently at a high level of the supply hierarchy. This, therefore, resulted in some commercial and industrial customers being included in the circuits selected.

On the other hand, many residential customers benefited from the fact that they are supplied from the same circuit as a hospital, water pumping station or similar facilities which were specifically excluded because of the negative regional impact this would have.

Eskom have now introduced Phase 2, the Power Rationing Phase, of their Emergency System Recovery Plan which requires all electricity distributors to implement pre-emptive load-shedding owing to insufficient response from the residential, commercial and smaller industrial sectors to government’s call for an immediate 10 % reduction on electricity consumption.

This commenced on 01 April 2008 and, for eThekwini Electricity, was initially based on the January schedule. This cannot be sustained for continuous load-shedding from 06:00 to 22:00 at the levels now required as the same customers were then affected every day and sometimes twice a day.

This compelled eThekwini Electricity to extend load-shedding to ALL  sectors of Industry, Commerce and Residents. The new schedule, effective from 14 April 2008, is based on the principle that each block of load will be affected 3 times a week on alternate days and at different times of the day where that is practical – that is, on Monday,Wednesday and Friday or Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Pre-emptive load-shedding will not occur on a Sunday. Eskom may also request further load-shedding under emergency conditions.

This is expected to continue until the end of June 2008 when Eskom’s Power Conservation Program is planned to commence, at which stage Eskom expects to have a sustained 10% overall reduction. Customers that have by then not individually demonstrated a 10% reduction can expect to be penalized for excessive electricity consumption in terms of the national plan to reduce consumption.

The new schedule will be well publicized and is available on the website www.durban.gov.za.

EThekwini Electricity expects Eskom to exempt Durban from load-shedding if we can demonstrate a city wide sustained reduction in electrical consumption by 10%.  The municipality can ONLY achieve exemption from load-shedding if ALL individual customers actively take steps to reduce their consumption. Hints and tips on how we can contribute to this target are available on the above referenced website and the Eskom website www.eskom.co.za.

All customers are advised to switch off appliances during load-shedding to ensure that an abnormal demand is not experienced when restoring supply to the block which could result in a localized over-load problem. This situation will require staff to be dispatched to the area which will result in an extended outage period.

For more information please dial 080 13 13 111 or  click here

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