Publications
Partners
- Eskom wants Western Cape residents to help reduce electricity demand amid what is expected to be a bleak winter.
- The power utility briefed the Western Cape legislature on Wednesday about its winter outlook plan.
- MPLs said more urgency was needed to address the ongoing power crisis, particularly for poorer communities.
With a high possibility of Stage 8 load shedding, Eskom has appealed to Western Cape residents to do their utmost to reduce electricity demand ahead of a difficult winter period.
Briefing the provincial government's Ad-Hoc Committee on Energy virtually on Wednesday, Eskom representatives provided a grim outlook for the upcoming winter months and said the power utility was doing everything in its capacity to manage stages of load shedding.
Acting Eskom CEO, Calib Cassim, said higher stages of load shedding could be expected in winter due to increased demand.
Eskom has planned for Stage 5 load shedding on most days over the next three months, although the possibility of moving to Stages 7 and 8 is a reality if unplanned outages or breakdowns persist. However, Cassim told the committee the chances of a national blackout remained low.
Eskom's general manager of system control, Isabella Fick, added that if Eskom experienced very high levels of electricity unavailability, load shedding could be expected every single day, up to Stage 8.
Fick said:
Head of generation Bheki Nxumalo told the legislature that Eskom needed help.
"Eskom, by ourselves, we cannot reduce all the stages. We need the public and local government to assist in lowering demands and minimising the amount of people stealing electricity, which makes it difficult to control," he appealed.
Nxumalo said they picked up that those who use inverters increase the demand on the grid when they charged the devices.
"With the proper education, we can all assist and minimise the stages of load shedding."
DA and ANC members expressed concern over the impact of load shedding on local business and the poor, adding that urgent intervention was necessary.
Committee chairperson Christopher Fry said poor and underprivileged people in the Western Cape were struggling to handle the impact.
He added:
In a statement, the DA added that Stage 8 load shedding would result in a devastating blow to the economy and could lead to business closures and job losses. Criticising the national government, the DA said the focus was on preventing blackouts and not building energy resilience.
In turn, the ANC said improvements in communication and interaction between Eskom and South Africans were necessary to fully understand the different stages of load shedding.
ANC MPL Nobulumko Nkondlo told the committee that residents, particularly those in poorer communities, did not understand the different stages.
Want to discuss hotly debated topics with someone from across the world? Sign up for our global dialogue programme and get matched for a conversation
"We need a system to explain where people can distinguish between stages of load shedding," Nkondlo said.
The ANC asked Eskom to work harder and faster to build capacity, which will be sourced through the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
"This is a national crisis affecting us all and for the sake of the country and its future, we call on all our citizens to work together and do their part to help restore our grid and our economy," they added.
Cassim conceded that communication between Eskom and South Africans needed to improve.
