Eskom’s winter reminder: Use electricity sparingly to avoid power cuts

This weekend’s wet weather, and dropping temperatures have prompted Eskom to remind residents to use electricity sparingly.

This weekend saw an increased strain on the national grid as temperatures dropped, signalling the onset of what promises to be an icy winter.

“Eskom in Gauteng appeals to members of the public to use electricity efficiently to curb supply interruptions due to overloading on its electricity infrastructure, this coming winter,” power giant said in a statement.

Every winter, Eskom records trends of higher energy demand, particularly during peak periods in the mornings between 05:00 and 09:00 and in the evenings between 17:00 and 21:00.

“To avoid unnecessary power failures, disconnections and load reduction, Eskom advises customers in the Gauteng province to refrain from illegally operating Eskom’s network, vandalising the electricity infrastructure, and electricity theft through meter bypasses, meter tampering and illegal vending.”

“Not only can these activities result in severe injuries and fatalities, but they overload the electricity network and damage cables, transformers, and mini substations, which ultimately leads to prolonged power outages,” said Eskom in Gauteng.

Eskom is urging all customers to switch off non-essential appliances such as heaters and geysers during the evening peak period, and to consider using alternative heating methods.

“While continuing with work to sustain services, we will also intensify credit management, revenue collection and energy losses reduction efforts to ensure that we stay afloat to meet our financial obligations”, said Gauteng Cluster Senior Manager, Customer Services, Daphne Mokwena.

The power utility said it would step up its public education efforts to ensure that customers stay up to date about the realities around issues of electricity on the ground throughout the winter period.

“We appeal to our customers to co-operate with us by paying for their electricity consumption. Those found with contraventions such as tampering with the electricity infrastructure or buying from illegal vendors will be disconnected, terminated and even removed from the Eskom network”, concluded Mokwena.

NOW READ: Eskom attends to global atomic regulator’s safety review of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station