Planned power cuts will occur every other day except Sunday from next week, Eskom confirmed on Friday.
”Predictable and scheduled load shedding that will typically average two to two-and-a half hours of interruption will occur every second day, excluding Sundays,” said Eskom in a media statement.
An exception has been made for Eskom’s central region, which means that people using Johannesburg’s City Power would have fewer but longer cuts — up to four hours but with lower frequency per week.
The utility said that the largest portion of the load reduction achieved so far had been from key industrial customers. To make sure that savings were shared equitably, the planned power cuts would start on Monday.
Eskom said that once a municipality or industrial customer that was individually switchable achieved the 10% load reduction it was aiming to achieve from every user, it could apply for exclusion from the scheduled load shedding, but not from emergency load shedding.
”If all consumers across the country adopt the same attitude to power saving as our key industrial customers, it will significantly reduce the likelihood of load shedding,” said Erica Johnson, Eskom’s officer for networks and customer service.
Eskom is under increasing pressure to cope with electricity supply demands, amid growing consumer resentment over power cuts. — Sapa