Load shedding left Krugersdorpers in the dark
Eskom clearly has the upper hand and deliberately turned off the lights last night.
The whole of Krugersdorp was left in the dark last night (11 June) when Eskom reverted to load shedding for the first time this cold season.
Eskom clearly has the upper hand and deliberately turned off the lights just after 6pm, leaving residents scuffling for candles and torches.
On the power supplier’s website a message reads:
“Eskom will only be doing load shedding as a last resort. We are however publishing these schedules to enable customers to be better prepared in the event that load shedding is required to protect Eskom’s national power system. Customers are encouraged to take note of the schedule and engage with Eskom via our Contact Centre at 086 003 7566 /086 00 ESKOM or our web page.”
But what exactly is load shedding?
When there is not enough electricity available to meet the demand from all Eskom customers, it could be necessary to interrupt supply to certain areas. It is different from a power outage that could occur for several other reasons.
It is a last resort to balance electricity supply and demand. Eskom will apply load-shedding only when all other options have been exhausted.
It is an effective way to avoid total collapse of the electricity supply grid (a national black-out), which will have disastrous outcomes for South Africa. If unbalances in the electricity network is not managed there is the risk that the entire power network could collapse. If this occurs, it could take more than a week to restore power to the entire country – with disastrous consequences. By rotating and shedding the load in a planned and controlled manner, the system remains stable.
Help Eskom beat the peak by doing the following for four hours:
• Switch off your geysers, electric heaters and pool pumps from 5pm to 9pm every day
• Switch off unnecessary appliances and lighting
• Look at alternative heating solutions
• Respond to the Power Alerts and Power Bulletin updates
Three schedules have been developed based on the possibility of risk and to ensure that it is applied in a fair and equitable manner:
• Stage 1 allows for up to 1 000 MW of the national load to be shed.
• Stage 2 allows for up to 2 000 MW of the national load to be shed.
• Stage 3 allows for up to 4 000 MW of the national load to be shed.
• Load shedding will be conducted in most instances on two-hour blocks during the period 6am to 10.30pm (this may differ among municipalities that average between two and four hour blocks).
Social media like twitter were buzzing with users expressing their frustration:
J. Where can we find #Krugersdorp #MogaleCity #LoadShedding schedules? @Municipality It’s not on @EskomSA website.
Deon M van Heerden @CityPowerJhb – Krugersdorp / Rant en Dal – Load shedding due to inability of our Government to do Maintenance – No Power – Ridiculous!
Do you feel Eskom’s load shedding is unfair? Tell us what you think by leaving your comment in the box provided below.
