Load shedding info worries DA

2007-12-11 18:18

Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday it was concerned that power load shedding would be part of life in SA because the government had delayed the power utility's R150bn infrastructure expansion programme.

It said the short press releases the company issued were not enough warning and the load-shedding timetable on its website was difficult to understand.

"Eskom needs an early warning system as a matter of urgency so that it can indicate why a load-shedding exercise needs to happen, when it will happen and how long it will last for, far enough in advance for consumers to make the necessary arrangements."

Without this, the country would be embarrassed if it was left in the dark during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Candles and cold dinners were expected to be the order of the day again on Tuesday as load shedding continued.

"Unfortunately there is load shedding today again," said Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger.

'Things can go wrong'

The latest outages are due to the utility's usual summer maintenance when electricity consumption is lower, combined with unexpected trips, leaving the utility with 24% less capacity than expected.

The power utility managed to get one large generator into service late on Monday and expects a second to be operational on Wednesday, but until then, power cuts will rotate around the country to prevent a total collapse of the strained grid.

The good news is that the blackouts are expected to end on Thursday, a day earlier than initially estimated.

Etzinger asked electricity users who have found the blackouts to be out of synch with the roster posted on its website, to call Eskom's help-line on 08600 37566.

"We try to make sure that load shedding happens within the published time period ... but we must acknowledge things can go wrong and in certain cases they are going wrong," said Etzinger.

Power flows through repaired equipment when it is restored and if it doesn't flow through all the lines automatically, a technician has to be sent out to rectify it, he said.

"Automatic restoration does always work 100% of the time," he said.

Use electricity sparingly

He urged people to phone Eskom's help-line if their power had not been restored by the advertised time, so that a technician could attend to it.

"We really need to know about this because we would not see it on our system."

The company tried to limit load shedding to a maximum of two and a half hours.

In October, Eskom warned that it is performing routine maintenance during the summer season and appealed to people to be use electricity sparingly.

- SAPA