MMC pleads for residents to use electricity sparingly during cold front
JOBURG – The MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services Councillor Mpho Moerane has warned that City Power may face increased demand due to the cold front this weekend ( 11 and 12 July).
A statement released by the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services councillor Mpho Moerane has warned that City Power expects the demand for electricity to skyrocket this coming weekend (11 and 12 July) due to a cold front.
The SA Weather Services forecasts icy-cold weather with the cold front expected to make landfall from 9 July until 12 July, bringing with it heavy rains, gale-force winds and possibly even snow to most of South Africa, including Johannesburg.
“While our network is ready, and the teams are on standby to respond quickly to the power outage calls, we appeal to our customers to use power sparingly.”
Eskom has also indicated that it is under tremendous pressure after losing generating capacity in two units at Tutuka and Medupi power stations, and this will continue into the weekend. “This calls for all of us to do our part to ensure that we sustain power supply going into the weekend by reducing the over-usage of electricity.”
The statement said that since the beginning of winter, City Power has been experiencing a high increase in power outages across Johannesburg. The outages are caused by the following known problems: Illegal connections, backyard rooms and vandalism of infrastructure.
“Switching on many non-essential power guzzling appliances such as stoves, geysers, heaters, electric blankets, at the same time also adds to the overloading on the network. As a result, most of our equipment failed due to the overloading on the network brought by illegal connections and these acts of the irresponsible use of electricity. ”
Mini-substations, pole-mounted transformers and cables have exploded and burnt because of this overloading.
The hotspots include these areas:
- Pimville Zone 9
- Vlakfontein
- Freedom Park
- Rosettenville
- The Hill
- River Park
- Alexandra
- Pennyville
- Turffontein
- Eldorado Park
- Rabie Ridge
“We expect the demand and the accompanying challenges to increase with the cold weather this coming weekend. While we try our best as City Power to attend to the outages as and when they are reported, our teams get overstretched due to the demand. We appeal to you to bear with us and be patient as we work to deal with the increase in demand and backlogs. We also appeal with you to cooperate with our teams when they do their job in your area,” concluded the statement.
