AbaQulusi Municipality sheds some light on the loadshedding issue

WITH the festive season upon us, Eskom may be leaving communities singing Christmas carols by candlelight, but AbaQulusi Municipality has other plans for consumers during this frustrating spell of imminent darkness.

Remember when the public was informed that geysers would be switched off by the municipality at certain intervals and the community was outraged by this sudden inconvenience?

Senior electrician and technical assistant control at AbaQulusi Municipality, Thinus Franzsen, explains that the two main power guzzlers in most households are the stove and the geyser. With this in mind, the municipality has been turning geysers off for a few hours every day to decrease the load on the power supply. This is done by means of the geyser relay fitted in most residential households.

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Thanks to the forward-thinking of the municipality, the geyser relay solution has ensured that, at this stage, where Eskom has implemented Stage 2 loadshedding, switching off geysers for a few hours a day has managed to diminish the load sufficiently to reach the required amount insisted upon by Eskom.

“We are affected by loadshedding like any other municipality,” explains Ken Tupper.
“We all have to participate, but we do so through the geyser relays. That is why it is imperative that consumers do not tamper with the geyser relays. Otherwise we will have to revert to switching power off completely…” he warns.
Tupper adds that consumers are urged to report faulty or tampered relays to the Electrical Department of AbaQulusi Municipality.
“We are committed to restricting the load,” he implores. “Please, everyone must cooperate otherwise we will be switched off by Eskom…”
He goes on to explain that the geyser relay solution only applies to Vryheid as there are no relays in the outlying areas.

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AbaQulusi Municipality’s municipal manager, Bonga Ntanzi adds, “There is an immediate plan in place to upgrade and refurbish our electrical infrastructure. With the help of a grant fund from the DBSA [Development Bank of Southern Africa], we have completed our electricity masterplan. A business plan has been developed that prioritises areas that need urgent attention. One of those areas is completion of the geyser relay project to cover eMondlo and King Bhekuzulu.
“Imagine how much power we would be able to save, to comply with Eskom’s demands, if all of our licensed areas have these relays, which are now proving to be lifesavers…”
“The project is planned for the next financial year,” he continues. “In the meantime, we urge our consumers to hold hands with us by not bridging electricity and by not tampering with the relays.”

The loadshedding schedules are available and consumers are advised that, if necessary, the power supply may be cut occasionally to some residential areas in town.

If all goes well, however, this will not be the norm and, with consumers doing their bit by saving electricity, reducing their consumption and complying with the municipality’s requests to report faults and refrain from tampering with the relays, the dark cloud of loadshedding may just pass us by without much of an impact.