Fourways helps Eskom keeps lights on

Eskom gives Fourways residents an update on the new Load-Limit Pilot Project after a few weeks of dealing of introduction.

July 16, 2023

Success Mthombeni 1 minute read

Resident highlights their challenges on the first week of the pilot during the Q and A session with Eskom.

Eskom gave Fourways residents an update on the new Load-Limiting Project that is currently underway.
Load limiting is the deliberate act of limiting the maximum output power of the customer’s meter for a predefined period to manage demand. The initiative is aimed to help ease the supply load as part of demand-side management.

Eskom's poster encourages residents to use smart meters to be able to load-limit. — Eskom’s poster encourages residents to use smart meters to be able to load-limit.

The pilot project started in Fourways on June 21 and posed many challenges in its first week. Representatives of Eskom availed themselves to address and find out the challenges customers faced to make the pilot a success. The project works specifically for customers with smart meters and aims to reduce customers’ electricity capacity from 60/80 amps to 10 amps, to balance the supply and demand on the grid, particularly during stages 1 and 4 of load-shedding.

Eskom's 'use electricity wisely' poster encourages residents to be responsible with electricity. — Eskom’s ‘use electricity wisely’ poster encourages residents to be responsible with electricity.

At a Q and A session with residents, Eskom’s Kgomotso Jam Jam said, “We would like to thank the residents for communicating their challenges throughout the week. This gave us a lot of feedback and helped us assess where we are with the pilot so we can make the improvements we need to make this project a success.
“Our objective with this project is to keep the lights on. We would like to encourage you to limit your loads for your good because if you don’t, your meters wil

Ward 94 councillor David Foley briefs and welcomes residents and the Eskom team.

l trip. We would also like to assure you that during the interruptions, your appliances are safe as we limit the current, unlike load-shedding.”

Eskom hoped the pilot project was successful so it could be implemented nationally. They also urged residents to report any challenges related to load limiting by sending an email with a meter number to loadlimiting@eskom.co.za