Rolling black outs underway – Eskom
JOBURG - Eskom has announced that load shedding commenced around the country at 9am on 6 March.
UPDATE: 6 March 11.30pm:
Eskom’s spokesperson, Andrew Etzinger, said there would be load shedding in different suburbs around the country and urged the public to familiarise themselves with the utility’s load shedding schedule to determine when they would be affected.
He said load shedding was likely to continue until 10pm on 6 March but added that it could not be ruled out on 7 March, because the situation remained vulnerable. “Tomorrow [7 March] is not looking good and we cannot say whether or not there will be load shedding.”
However, Eskom expected the power supply to improve at the weekend as many big industrial customers, who only operated from Monday to Friday, would lighten the demand in the coming days.
Etzinger added that the situation was expected to improve as weather conditions, which had impacted the utility’s resources, began to clear next week.
Earlier, the utility said that seven days of heavy rain had left coal stocks wet.
Furthermore, an increase in technical problems experienced at some of Eskom’s power stations had added to the power supply’s risk.
Etzinger continued to urge all consumers to reduce electricity consumption in order to overcome the current load shedding by urgently switching off geysers, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances.
The load shedding schedule can be viewed here
or contact Eskom’s call centre on 086 003 7566 for more information.
Tweet us with the #loadshedding and let us know if you’ve been affected
6 March, 8am:
The wet conditions of the past few days has put pressure on the electricity grid.
Eskom declared a power emergency from 6am on 6 March. Coal supplies were affected by the rain.
This may cause the power giant to implement its proposed load shedding schedules if customers do not cut-back on electricity usage.
The proposed load shedding schedules are available on the Eskom website.
