Winter in the dark: Load reduction on the cards for some Joburg areas – City Power

The abundant electricity supply will end next week for some Johannesburg residents.

This comes after City Power released a statement on Saturday indicating that it will introduce load reduction from Monday.

The municipal power utility complained that there was a sharp increase in electricity demand causing a burden on the already strained electricity grid.

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Some areas in Johannesburg were still under the supply of Eskom include Sandton, Soweto, and Orange Farm.

“The decision to initiate load reduction follows extensive efforts to encourage customers to use electricity wisely and efficiently in recent weeks.

“Despite warnings about the constrained electricity network in the city, residents have not reduced their electricity consumption, and energy demand has continued to rise,” the entity said in a statement.

Cold weather increase electricity demand

The South African Weather Services (SAWS) had warned of cold temperatures for parts of the country including Johannesburg.

This has led to an increase in the demand for electricity especially in the mornings and evenings.

“City Power has recorded an enormous increase in the average evening peak load in some areas, which went up by 65%, from 25 MW [megawatts] during the summer months to 33 MW between April and May 2024,” the utility said.

 According to City Power, the load reaches 42 MW in some instances, constituting a 110% increase in consumption levels in comparison with the warmer season during January and March this year.

“ The average off-peak consumption at some of our substations has been sitting at 20 MW. Between April and May, consumption shot up by 50%, increasing the off-peak load to 30 MW,” said City Power.

READ MORE: City Power warns of prolonged power outages due to high demand

City Power said its network was now at critical levels due to continuous demand, which is higher than the electricity equipment can withstand.

“As a result, load reduction will be implemented in areas where the load exceeds the designated maximum capacity of our transformers, transmission lines, or cables.”

 According to City Power over 80 areas will be affected and grouped into 6 blocks for load reduction, which will not exceed two hours per block.

“The schedule will be implemented during peak hours, in the mornings between 4am to 10am and the evenings between 4pm to 10pm,” the utility said.

Each block will have its power supply switched off for two and half hours daily until the network stabilises.