Electricity Consumption

Local governments are losing income to theft of electricity, unpaid bills and renewable energy.

Southern Africa completed building nearly 2 000 megawatts of generation since 2014. It will finish a further 2 763 megawatts in 2015.

Power utility Eskom has again declared an emergency as four generating units developed "technical problems".

Eskom’s recent application for price increases is a watershed – it marks the point at which South Africa’s electricity is no longer cheap.

Eskom chief executive Brian Dames has to overcome numerous hurdles. He needs the public to save energy and municipalities to lower profit margins.

In the face of the threat of load shedding, Eskom is being challenged to cut back on exports.

Municipal electricity costs are coming under fire as the state gears up to review South Africa’s electricity pricing policy.

Despite criticism the department of energy appears determined to go ahead with the building of two peaking power plants at a cost of R8-billion.

The internet, with few exceptions, is free. That makes it easy to overlook the biggest hidden cost of the net: electricity.

Once you know how much electricity each household appliance uses, you can work out how much you’re paying.

With winter fast approaching and energy prices increasing, it’s a good idea to think of ways to save electricity.

Eskom is pushing for a mandatory power conservation programme that would force particularly heavy consumers to save power.

Yolandi Groenewald puts her house on a low-kilowatt diet.