Power outage in Eldorado Park. Picture: iStock
Eldorado Park in Gauteng has been grappling with power outages for several weeks and will once again be in the dark.
City Power recently announced that residents of Eldorado Park and surrounding areas will experience planned outages on Wednesday and Friday.
According to the utility, this is so City Power can undertake ‘critical’ repairs to its network.
“This emergency switch-off is part of our comprehensive plan to migrate, normalise, and stabilise the network,” said Isaac Mangena, spokesperson for City Power.
Furthermore, Mangena stated that residents whose power supply was interrupted in the past week would be exempt from this week’s electricity outage.
The repairs will involve keeping apart two lines from 7am to 5pm on Wednesday and Friday to fix burnt overhead lines.
By dividing the work into two days, City Power aims to minimise the outage duration and reduce the impact on residents.
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Affected areas on Wednesday include Klipspruit West Extension 1 and 2, Coca-Cola, Kliptown CBD, and Kliptown Informal Settlement.
On Friday, the power supply interruption will affect Eldorado Park Ext. 1, 3, 8, and 9, Eldorado Proper, Old Eldorado Park, Kersiedort, and Mahala Park.
“City Power has engaged councillors in the area about this planned power supply interruption and
would like to appreciate the understanding and cooperation granted,” said Mangena.
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Mangena said residents should unplug household electricity appliances to avoid a switch-on surge.
Eldorado Park isn’t the only key area affected by outages. Several Johannesburg areas face blackouts due to various technical issues.
The Inner-City Service Delivery Centre (SDC) received over 269 calls, including “165 reported within the past 24 hours, with a focus on reducing open calls and restoring 113 non-functioning plants”.
In the Cleveland area, a fault at the Cleveland Substation’s Incomer number two left Benrose, Denver, Droste Park, New Doornfontein, Jeppestown, Malvern, Wolhuter, and surrounding areas without power.
The utility said repair efforts are underway, with an estimated time of restoration (ETR) to be announced soon.
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Meanwhile, in the Central Substation, repairs and replacement of stolen and faulty cables are set to resume on Wednesday, following a trip at the Standby Oll distributor in Marshalltown and sections of Joburg CBD (Commissioner, Fox & Nearby streets).
“The ETR is set for 20:30 tonight, subject to successful test results.”
In Hillbrow, repair work at the Fort Substation has been completed, and final testing is underway, following a trip at the Soper Rd distributor. Power is expected to be restored by 4:30 pm on Wednesday.
To manage energy consumption, load reduction measures are in place between peak hours (4:30-11 am and 4:30- 11 pm) in areas with high energy usage.
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