Eskom U-turns on load shedding takeover in Ekurhuleni
Power utility Eskom says that it has handed back control over load shedding to the City of Ekurhuleni after taking over the operations earlier this week.
The group previously announced that it would take control of implementing load shedding in the city after it failed to do so according to the necessary regulations.
However, in a U-turn on the decision on Friday (28 July), Eskom said it would now hand back the controls to the city after the municipality promised to do it properly.
“Eskom has handed over load shedding operations back to the City of Ekurhuleni, after the municipality committed to implement load shedding as per the NRS 048-9:2019 code of practice,” Eskom said.
“The municipality has assured Eskom that it has put controls in place to address the challenges that prevented it from adhering to the regulations, which requires the distributor licence holders to reduce load during the declaration of a system emergency.”
Eskom said it will continue to monitor the city and other municipalities to ensure that they implement load shedding accordingly.
“Eskom will take over the load shedding of any municipality that fails to comply for whatever reason, even after it has been engaged on the matter as was the case with Ekurhuleni.
“The power utility is obliged to take the necessary precautions to protect the integrity and stability of the grid.”
Load shedding is currently being implemented at stage 4 until further notice.
Eskom has noted that the grid is under pressure and called on members of the public to continue to switch off non-essential appliances such as geysers and pool pumps, as this lowers demand and helps in alleviating the pressure on the power system, which contributes to lower stages of load shedding.
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