Big load shedding changes for Joburg – 4 hour slots are back
The City of Johannesburg’s power utility, City Power, says that it has resolved the “frequent 2-hour load shedding” issue that emerged as the group took over handling outages from Eskom at the end of 2023.
After the utility took over the load shedding operations in the city, many customers ended up experiencing two 2-hour blocks of load shedding in quick succession.
At the time, City Power attributed the issue to technical problems associated with the new load shedding blocks, which were split into 2-hour blocks from 4-hour blocks before.
To resolve the problem, the utility said that it would be returning to 4-hour blocks of load shedding during higher stages.
“While (the 2-hour block change was welcomed during lower stages where customers were shed only for two hours, with some going for a day or two without being loadshed, the problem arose when Eskom bumped the schedule to higher stages from Stage 5 to 8, which saw the 2-hour blocks repeating frequently, often with some customers shed twice in six hours.
“The reality we find ourselves in during load shedding is that the higher the stages, the more frequently the blocks are shed, with some shed for at least 10 hours in stage 6,” it said.
The utility said that it would rather bring back the 4-hour blocks of load shedding in the higher stages (5 – 8) than have successive 2-hour blocks in a short space of time.
This solution removes the 2-hour block problem entirely, it said, while keeping the 4-hour block similar to what customers experienced under Eskom.
The new schedules are now in effect, with the following changes:
| Stage | Changes |
| Stage 5 | From stage 5, all blocks will be shed three times a day, as opposed to four. Four blocks will not experience the 4-hour duration of load shedding. The schedule for these four groups will feel like customers are still in stages 3 and 4 of loadshedding. All blocks will alternate and enjoy this feature on an occasional basis. The other 12 blocks will experience one episode of the 4-hour duration of load shedding. All these blocks will rotate and have a fair share of the 4 straight hours of blackout. |
| Stage 6 | In stage 6, eght blocks will encounter the 4-hour duration of load shedding on two occasions in a day. For example, Group 1, could be load shed between 06h00 – 10h30 in the morning and then experience the same episode between 18h00 – 22h30. Eight other blocks will experience the 4-hour straight load shedding once a day. For example, on a different day, Group 1 may be load shed between 12h00 – 16h30 and the rest of the day be shed for only 2 hours. All blocks will alternate to make sure that the uncomfortable burden is shared equally. |
| Stage 7 & 8 | In the event that load shedding hits stage 7 or 8, customers should expect to be off for half of the day. The 4-hour load shedding will occur three times a day. For example, Group 1 could be load shed between 06h00 – 10h30, 12h00 – 16h00 and then again between 20h00 – 00h00. Under these stages, additional blocks in the form of block 17 and 18 are introduced to offset the intensity of load shedding. Block 17 & 18 could also be brought in at earlier stages to help with capacity issues, for example, where more customers are excluded from load shedding for one reason or the other. |
City Power noted that the 4 hours of load shedding that usually occurred between 22h00 – 00h30 and 00h00 – 02h30 will no longer take place, due to the introduction of two new blocks.
“There will, however, be instances where this phenomenon happens once in a while, mostly leap-years. Customers will be notified ahead of time when this rare incident is due to occur,” it said.
The utility added that essential services and some business and key customers will remain exempted from load shedding under the new schedule, with work underway to ensure more are exempted from load shedding.
However, this will have implications for those who are load shed, with a further burden being placed on those who are not exempt, as outlined above.
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