Lights out for Ekurhuleni as Eskom takes over load shedding – again

Power utility Eskom says it will once again take direct control of load shedding in the City of Ekurhuleni after the city’s repeated failure to adhere to the NRS 048-9:2019 (load shedding) code of practice.

The power utility will take over load shedding for Ekurhuleni’s customers effective Friday, 1 March 2024.

“The code of practice requires electricity distribution licence holders to reduce load during the declaration of a system emergency.

“The recurrence of Eskom taking over load shedding in Ekurhuleni follows the close monitoring and analysis conducted by the power utility, which shows that the city does not reduce the load as required by the NRS 048-9:2019,” Eskom said.

Eskom said it brought the failure to load shed effectively to the attention of the city on numerous occasions.

In July 2023, Eskom took over the city’s load shedding, only to then be requested by the city to hand it back, after it committed to honour the requirements of the code of practice.

“While Eskom appreciates the CoE’s technical limitations in executing load shedding, it has little option but to implement load shedding on behalf of the CoE as the non-compliance puts further strain on the already stretched national grid.

“Failure to implement load shedding when required by all electricity distributors, including municipalities, undermines the integrity and stability of the grid, which may lead to higher stages of load shedding.”

Eskom said that residential and industrial customers from the City of Ekurhuleni can contact the municipality directly for its load shedding schedule or to visit their website at www.ekurhuleni.gov.za.

It will be using the city’s schedule for load shedding.

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