Eskom applauds Diepkloof residents for turning over a new leaf
A major win for Diepkloof Zone 3 residents as Eskom commits to remove them from load reduction schedule as the community tightens belt on compliance.
Amid the power crisis in the country, residents of Diepkloof Zone 3 will breathe a sigh of relief following positive feedback from the power utility indicating major change as electricity sales increase and energy losses reduce in the area.
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The community was left in the dark and slapped with remedial fees that Eskom implemented in November 2021 due to “certain customers were bypassing meters, buying electricity from ghost vendors, not paying for the electricity they consumed and illegally connecting to the electricity network”.
Households issued with fines entered into a Deferred Payment Arrangements (DPA) with the power utility.
“Eskom has seen an increase of 82% in sales and a reduction of about 40% in energy losses in Diepkloof Zone 3.
“The power utility has further noted an increase from 22% to 86% of customers who are purchasing legal electricity tokens in the area.
“The revenue lost on zero buyers was averaging at R435 000 per month, which has significantly decreased,” the power utility said in a statement.
According Eskom, Diepkloof Zone 3 will be removed from load reduction as the energy losses have continued to reduce to below 51%.
“This is an indication that the network is not overloaded therefore minimising the possibility of equipment failing and exploding,” it said.
On July 21, the power utility conducted audits in the area to ensure that customers continue to adhere to the agreement made with Eskom. The audits included checking customers’ meters.
Those found to have tampered with their meters or were buying units from ghost vendors were issued with remedial notices and disconnected from the Eskom network.
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The statement explained that to curb these failures and damages, it needed to implement stringent measure to ensure compliance.
“Eskom implements control measures such as audits, disconnections, maintenance, load reduction and the equipment replacement process which has been intensified to further ensure financial sustainability and return on investment.
“Communities that experience load reduction can be removed from the list by refraining from conducting illegal electricity-related acts and ensuring that energy losses from their respective feeders are below 51% like in Diepkloof Zone 3,” the statement concluded.
The struggling power supply faces a high demand for equipment that needs to be repaired or replaced as a result of repeated failures and damages.
Eskom workers embarked on an strike on June 22 demanding wage increase forcing the utility to implement rolling stage six black outs across the country as power plants came under strain.
Following this, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his address to the nation that government would be implementing emergency measures to address the power crisis in what he said would be aimed at improving the performance of Eskom, accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity, and increase private investment in generation capacity.
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The measures will include Eskom buying power from private producers, importing more power from countries outside of SA, Easing local requirements and dealing with Eskom debt.
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