Cold weather causes power cuts
2008-03-17 10:18
Special Report
Eskom is set to seek a 34% hike in electricity tariffs, back from the 88% rise it had been considering due to the global economic slowdown, a newspaper says.
Johannesburg - Power utility Eskom started implementing emergency load shedding on Monday morning as it could not meet
demand, it said in a statement.
The situation was further compounded by the cold and wet weather that increased the demand for electricity, it added.
Eskom said it had not implemented load shedding since February 4 2008. Last week, it reported that it would resume pre-emptive load shedding on March 31 should it not get 10% savings across all sectors of the society.
"We are currently using gas turbines to minimise load shedding. Load shedding will continue for the rest of the day until after evening peak. We appeal to all electricity consumers to contribute to save electricity and reduce their demand by 10%," said Erica Johnson, Eskom's chief officer networks and customer service.
"The risk of load shedding remains high until Thursday. We don't expect any load shedding over the long weekend as demand patterns are historically lower during holidays," said Johnson.
Consumers were urged to treat all electrical installations as live during a power outage.
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