Load reduction will be enforced this winter in Johannesburg townships or suburbs where high electricity consumption threatens to overload and collapse the grid in parts of the country’s financial and industrial capital — until the situation is brought under control.
However, an energy analyst has warned that load reduction is a temporary fix to a problem that will only worsen if City Power, and municipalities faced with overloaded distribution networks, fail to invest in replacing ageing infrastructure.
City Power ramped up load reduction in more than 80 areas on Monday — a precautionary step to safeguard the grid and transformers, citing a big jump in electricity demand as temperatures dropped and rampant illegal connections as a cause of concern.
Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said, “We will be implementing load reduction as long as the network remains constrained. The period depends on the status of the network.
“We urge residents of the City of Johannesburg in areas where we are experiencing high energy consumption levels to partner with us by changing their behaviour in relation to how they use electricity. The high rate of illegal connections, meter bypasses and unauthorised operations on our network overload our system.
“If this inappropriate behaviour does not cease, we will continue implementing load reduction to protect our equipment,” he added.
City Power implements load reduction during peak times from 6am to 10am and 4pm to 10pm in areas with high consumption. Load reduction targets specific areas where demand is so high the local distribution network becomes overloaded. Load-shedding involves a total power cut to designated areas when Eskom’s generating capacity fails to meet countrywide demand.
City Power said load-limiting, using smart meters to remotely turn off geysers, will also be used in July to help customers save energy without being switched off completely.
The city is also disconnecting residents with illegal connections.
Load reduction on Thursday affected Rabbie Ridge, Matholesville, Lehae, Zakaria Park, Nasrec Extension, Vasco Da Gama, Marlboro, Alexandra, Marlboro Gardens, Comptonville, Kibler Park, Nasrec, Patlynn, Rispark, Southfork, Willowdene, Alvida, Armadale, Eagles Nest, Tshepisong, Klipfontein View, Bellevue, Linksfield Ridge, Finetown, Lawley, Yeoville and Houghton West.
Load reduction is implemented in the electricity distribution system when the demand is so high that the distribution network get overloaded.
Mangena said, “If consumption is high in an area, whether a township or a suburb, City Power is bound to enforce load reduction to avoid catastrophic and irreversible consequences.
“Illegal connections are a contributing factor to high levels of consumption, but certainly not the only one. Other factors include meter bypassing/tampering and the overall culture of high electricity consumption,” he said.
Illegal connections are a contributing factor to high levels of consumption, but certainly not the only one. Other factors include meter bypassing/tampering and the overall culture of high electricity consumption
— City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena
Mangena said consumption levels would need to drop and stay below the red zone for a consistent period of time before halting load reduction.
“Once load reduction is lifted, customers must continue to keep consumption levels low, failing which the entity will have to reinstate the load limiting measure,” he said.
Mangena also cited the “ever-increasing” theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure and backyard dwellings connecting illegally to the network.
Energy analyst Chris Yelland said, “If your network is overloaded and you don’t do something about it, equipment starts to fail. Transformers will overheat and will catch fire... Cables can also be overloaded and get hot, which causes damage.
“Demand for electricity increases as the population rises. People are moving from rural areas to urban areas, that happens all over the world.” This had to be taken into account by, for example, municipalities.
“They need to upgrade their network ... they need to invest money to keep up with the population growth in urban areas. The trouble is that many municipalities are not keeping up with that growth. They are not investing in the electricity infrastructure, so they fall behind and the population continues to increase and the system overloads.”
Yelland said Eskom had implemented load reduction in townships such as Soweto for years due to illegal connections.
“Every country in the world deals with this problem adequately by paying attention to illegal connections. They make sure that people get punished for illegal connections. The country also has to be constantly investing on electricity infrastructure. You don’t wait, you have to invest every single year,” he said.
“The problem is not with the customer, the problem is with City Power and the municipalities. It is their job to invest. It is their job to make sure there is no illegal connection. They try to make it look like it is the customers’ problem because they are using too much electricity. That is nonsense, they should be happy that we are using electricity because they are making more money.”
Mangena said City Power had plans in place to beef up resources to meet increasing demand in addition to maintenance.
“Even with added capacity, consumption levels this year ... have far exceeded the already overstretched limit, propelling us to implement load reduction,” Mangena said.
“Our ageing infrastructure is a factor that we are working on addressing as part of the long-term plans. With regular maintenance conducted, if not interfered with, our infrastructure even in its current state is not the cause of the existing pressure,” he said.
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