Power interruption turns off local residents
ROOSEVELT PARK – Apologies and explanations for those affected by 23 June's power outage.
Ward councillor acknowledges electricity interruption lasted longer than it should have.
Residents across Fairland, Northcliff, Linden, Roosevelt Park and other surrounding suburbs were frustrated on 23 June after City Power failed to restore electricity supply as scheduled after a planned interruption. The interruption, which took place due to the need to carry out maintenance work, was scheduled to end at 4pm but lasted well after 6pm. Ward 99 councillor Nicole van Dyk, whose ward is home to the substation that is currently being upgraded, explained why this was the case. She said, “City Power put out a notice that it will be done by 4pm, unfortunately, there were some oversights that needed to be managed.”
In addition to the oversight that took longer than scheduled, another massive problem was the electrical overload that the system experienced once power was restored. Van Dyk said, “Power came back roughly after 6pm, it was due to be back on at 4pm. At exactly 6.09pm it was turned on and 10 minutes later it tripped. The reason for that was the massive overload on the system.”
This overload was caused by a massive rush current due to electrical appliance not being turned off when the power returns. Van Dyk added, “We have to advise people to please switch off their geysers, heaters and such during the outage and slowly put their appliances back on so that there is no rush current.”
Many residents complained that they were unaware that the outage would affect them and Van Dyk stated that City Power did make an error by not mentioning all the affected suburbs in their notice. She said, “Suburbs like Greenside, Linden, and so on were not aware that they were going to be cut off. It has been raised and City Power has apologised for the error and promised to improve communication going forward.”
It’s not all gloom and doom for residents serviced by the Roosevelt Park substation. Van Dyk stated that the upgrade is almost done and that they do not foresee any major interruptions at least until September. She said, “In the next three months they will be installing another gantry and we will need to turn off the power supply again. It is a very delicate process so it takes time and cautiousness.”
She stated that any outages until then won’t be as destructive and vowed to continue to keep residents informed with any planned and unplanned interruptions.
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