Relief for Joburg residents as City Power suspends load reduction
Johannesburg City Power temporarily suspended load reduction from Friday, 20 December 2024, until the end of January 2025.
The utility came under fire when it implemented load reduction in June. National power supplier Eskom had not been implementing load shedding.
CITY POWER SUSPENDS LOAD REDUCTION
City Power said this decision is based on a significant drop in electricity demand observed during the festive season.
Over the past few days and weeks, many companies, industries, and other energy-consuming entities have shut down operations for the December holidays.
Additionally, numerous residents have travelled away from Johannesburg to spend time with family and friends, resulting in a marked decrease in electricity consumption across the city.
“This demand reduction, combined with seasonal factors such as warm weather conditions, has contributed to lower energy usage levels, allowing us to lift load reduction implemented to safeguard the electricity grid temporarily.
“The load reduction programme was introduced due to critically high electricity consumption levels, putting immense strain on our network infrastructure. The measures included targeted load reductions in high-density and affluent areas where load demand was extremely high,” City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said.
Mangena said these actions were necessary to prevent potential overloads and ensure the stability of our electricity supply. However, other measures, such as the eradication of illegal connections, will continue as part of the comprehensive load reduction measures.
TWO-HOURLY POWER SUPPLY INTERRUPTION MAY BE IMPLEMENTED
The utility said it recognises the difficulties that the power supply interruption has placed on its customers, particularly during peak demand periods. However, as mentioned previously, that extreme measure was taken as the last resort to mitigate against possible grid collapse, whose consequences would have been far more damaging.
“Although the implementation of the 2-hourly power supply interruption will be put on hold for the time being, we wish to remind customers to continue using electricity sparingly to avoid triggering the need for an emergency reinstatement of load reduction. Should we notice a worrying spike in consumption, City Power will be left with no option but to initiate load reduction even during this period.
“As we move into the new year, we anticipate that electricity demand will rise again as industries resume operations, schools reopen, and residents return to Johannesburg. Given this expected increase in consumption, we want to inform our customers that load reduction measures may be reintroduced from the end of January 2025,” he said.
DO YOU LIVE IN JOHANNESBURG? WERE YOU AFFECTED BY THE LOAD REDUCTION IMPLEMENTED BY CITY POWER?
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