Residents of Buccleuch, Kelvin, Paulshof, Marlboro, Sunninghill, and Waterfall in Johannesburg who have smart meters have been selected for the expansion of Eskom’s “load-limiting” initiative.
Load-limiting, which was initially piloted in Fourways, where it was first rolled out in June 2023, is intended to allow residents to use some appliances during stages 1 to 4 of load-shedding. This innovative measure aims to provide relief to households during periods of high demand for electricity.
Recently, residents of Sunninghill have been requested to cooperate in a Load-Limiting Program:
“We are now at the beginning of February, a few months before the official start of winter, and we expect the cold temperatures and the demand for electricity to increase. Customers remain at the centre of our business. I cannot over-emphasise the need for us to work together towards improving their experience at all times. Regrettably, loadshedding remains one of the key challenges the business is facing, and therefore, we need to come on board as Eskom Guardians to provide solutions for our customers and country.”
The letter continues as follows: “While our colleagues in Generation are focussing on improving the performance of the Generation fleet to reduce the impact of loadshedding felt countrywide, distribution should assist them by managing customers’ demand for electricity. This requires Distribution to be innovative, resilient, and able to respond to the problems of today.
As we journey towards winter, let us each commit to being part of the solution. The country is counting on us; we simply cannot let South Africans down. We need to tap into all the wisdom and implement all the ideas to help us make Eskom great for the benefit of our beautiful country.”
Benefits of load-limiting
Through load limiting measures, during stages 1 to 4 of loadshedding, customers’ electricity capacity is reduced to 5 Amps or 10 Amps, depending on your area, allowing customers to enjoy minimal usage of electricity. This initiative undoubtedly cements our position as pioneers in the work that we do. It also demonstrates our willingness to go the extra mile in finding solutions to improve our customers’ lives and experiences.
Appliances that you can use on 10 Amps include:
• Television (TV)
• Decoder
• Lights
• Fridge
• Wi-Fi router
• Security systems
Customers should switch off the following appliances or equipment as they are high-consuming during load limiting.
• Inverters (connected to batteries)
• Geysers
• Stoves
• Washing machines
• Dishwashers
• Pool pumps
• Underfloor heating
To comply with load-limiting or not
Yes, one could argue that loadshedding is the government’s problem to sort out. That we as ratepayers have every right to use whatever appliances that we want to use whenever we want to use them. As responsible earth occupiers, every small bit of change starts with ourselves. In the bigger scheme of things electricity generated through coal resources has a serious detrimental effect on our planet.
Long before we started scrambling around to save our sanity, solar-generated power was initiated to save our planet.
As with the starfish tale, we can only save our planet if one person believes that he or she can make a difference. One starfish at a time.
