After Eskom pats itself on the back for securing 103 days of no load shedding “due to sufficient generation capacity”, the state-owned energy company announced that power cuts were returning at 07h00 this morning. But don’t worry. It isn’t load shedding. It’s technically resuming “load reduction”, which sounds an awful lot like parts of the country won’t have electricity access for extended periods.
“Ackchyually, it’s load reduction.” – Eskom, probably
Eskom resumes load reduction as loadshedding remains suspended to protect human life as a result of electricity theft pic.twitter.com/i7SKYWtMmW
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) July 9, 2024
Eskom doesn’t blame the failing infrastructure or the years of embezzling money for the sudden return of power cuts. Instead, it’s blaming winter and various electricity thieves and vandals around South Africa. Not to mention the ‘load reduction’ terminology, which it says is the correct phrase for those areas “when there is sufficient electricity available, but a transformer’s integrity is at risk due to overloading.”
Yeah, right. If you thought the lack of an official load shedding label would mean your home or route to work would be spared power cuts, you don’t know Eskom like we do. Despite its insistence that the issue isn’t yet dire enough to deem it load shedding, ‘load reduction’ has still been enforced in seven provinces across SA.
“This issue is prevalent in the Eskom supply areas in Limpopo, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and North West. About 94% of the total overloaded transformers are in these areas as a result of electricity theft and indiscriminate use of electricity,” it said in a statement.
“Despite continued public information campaigns to customers about the implications of electricity theft activities, Eskom has no other option but to implement load reduction to protect its assets from repeated failures and explosions, which pose a risk to human lives,” it concluded.”
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According to the statement, load reduction is a “long-established process” that’s proved to be an effective solution, showing a “significant reduction in equipment failure and prolonged outages.” We’ll believe that when we see it. Eskom reckons load reduction will only come into play during peak hours, and sticking with the rules set in place can help speed up the process to be power cut-free once again.
“To prevent load reduction and abrupt loss of supply, customers are urged to reduce their consumption, ensure that the electricity they consume is legally connected, paid for, and purchased from legal vendors, and to report illegal activities. Additionally, customers are encouraged to switch off nonessential appliances, such as heaters and geysers, and use alternative heating methods,” the group finished.
There are currently “around” 2,111 frequently overloaded transformers around SA, though “around” 900 are awaiting replacements. That’s good news, we guess.