Electricity fault reporting: Do not over-report

WHILE some residents feel frustrated about the turn-around time to fix electricity faults, others seem not to be affected at all.

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eThekwini Municipality Exco member, André Beetge, explains why it seems that some reports are ignored, while others seem to be fixed timeously. Electricity faults are classified as high voltage (HV), medium voltage (MV) and low voltage (LV).

MV (larger areas regulated through a system of 15 000 transformers) and LV faults (single and coupled dwellings, cluster or coupled street) are essentially reported to the 24-hour call centre operating three shifts by either using WhatsApp or the preferred municipal app. Once a fault is captured and a reference number generated, it is transferred to operations where different departments and / or teams are dispatched from Springfield Park to respond to complaints. This is separated from tasks performed by the local depot.

Between 60% to 70% of faults are resolved by repairmen, while others are referred to the depot, contractor or where it concerns cable faults.

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Electricity is totally invisible and where underground cables are damaged, it often requires detection that, in turn – attended by only five specialists with the necessary equipment servicing the entire city – could cause delays.

Technicians cannot merely switch off or accept that an area is totally off, but are reliant on a central controller to switch off an entire area before repairs can commence, and to switch the grid back on to test whether repairs were successful.

It is always advisable to switch power-demanding appliances off during power outages or scheduled load-shedding, as these can result in a huge power draw once the system is switched back on which can lead to overload trips.

Turn-around times

The expected reaction time is 24 to 48 hours, with no escalation possible or considered before the first 24 hours since reporting. The inclement weather has increased this to 48 to 60 hours or more.

Faults are prioritised as an immediate danger to persons or property, larger areas with clusters, linked properties or single dwellings, being lower or last priority.

In some instances technicians are able to link parts of affected areas into another ring feeds, thus getting parts of areas back up while closing in on the cause area. In some instances, areas are still deprived while others are back on.

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Back of the queue

Over-reporting the same fault does not get the job done faster. It has the opposite impact, as it increases the number of job cards allocated to technicians which causes further delays. Each new reference moves to the back of the queue.

Multiple reports from a specific area received in close succession will be linked into an area (MV) fault reference and then cancelled. It is important that where an area fault is resolved, and single dwellings or linked properties remain off, to immediately re-report it as a separate fault, as opposed to being reliant on receiving attendance against the originally reported area fault.

Everyone believes that their fault is the most important and that it should take priority, but there is a queuing system and a clock that only kicks in once the problem has been reported, captured onto the system and a reference generated.

Report correctly, this includes the address details. Be clear about what the fault or suspected fault is, note the reference because, without it, it is virtually impossible to request feedback. Keep phones close at hand so technicians are able to communicate if necessary.

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