#Loadshedding explained

The recent announcement of Stage 6 load-shedding has left residents both scared and confused due to the fact that most people do not understand what anything above Stage 5 would mean for them and the country.

Eskom defines load-shedding as, “A controlled way to make sure that the national power grid remains stable to avoid a total countrywide blackout.”

While entity City Power has shared a complete load-shedding schedule outlining stages 1 to 8, there is still some uncertainty across the board with regards to what each stage means.

• Stage 1 allows for up to 1 000MW of the national load to be shed
• Stage 2 allows for up to 2 000MW of the national load to be shed
• Stage 3 allows for up to 3 000MW of the national load to be shed
• Stage 4 allows for up to 4 000MW of the national load to be shed
• Stage 5 allows for up to 5 000MW of the national load to be shed
• Stage 6 allows for up to 6 000MW of the national load to be shed
• Stage 7 allows for up to 7 000MW of the national load to be shed
• Stage 8 allows for up to 8 000MW of the national load to be shed.

“The higher the load-shedding stage, the more frequently you will experience load-shedding. The higher the stage, the greater the number of customers who will be affected across the country,” Eskom stated on the website.

According to City Power, the load-shedding schedule outlines the time and date that the suburb block will be affected. “The suburbs blocks information indicates all suburbs associated with the affected block as per the Load Shedding Schedule. Suburbs may belong to more than one block and this is because they overlap from one block to another due to feeding from different substations,” the utility noted on its website.

In order to find out if and when you will be affected, it is important to know which suburb block you belong to. This information can be found on the City Power website www.citypower.co.za

Upon identifying your suburb block (1A to 8B), refer back to the load-shedding schedule. Reading and interpreting the load-shedding schedule is important because it allows you to prepare for the blackout.

Step 1: Identify the day of the month

Step 2: Identify your suburb block

Step 3: Identify the time period.

In the case of Stage 1 load-shedding, only the suburbs listed in Stage 1 will be affected during the allocated time period. If the load-shedding increases, all of the suburb blocks listed in each stage (until the designated stage) will be affected.

For example, in the case of Stage 5 load-shedding, all of the suburb blocks listed in stages 1 to 5 will be affected on that particular day and time.

It is important to note that Eskom only takes control of the metro’s load-shedding from Stage 3.

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/rosebank-killarney-gazette/242870/7-tips-help-combat-loadshedding/

https://sandtonchronicle.co.za/215213/7-tips-help-combat-loadshedding/