WHILE city residents can expect a reprieve from the two-hourly electricity cuts on Wednesday, Stage 1 loadshedding means that all geysers will be cut from 9am until 10pm.
This was confirmed by municipal spokesperson, Thoko Riet, who reminded residents that, according to the municipality’s schedule, Stage 1 loadshedding meant that geysers would be switched off.
“This means that residents will not have hot water during Stage 1,” she stated.
Eskom announced on Tuesday that it would implement Stage 1 loadshedding from 9am until 10pm today (Wednesday).
The power utility stated that its teams had successfully returned a generation unit each at the Medupi and Majuba power stations to service. “In addition, unit 2 at Koeberg was synchronised into the grid on Monday. This additional capacity has significantly reduced the strain on the generation system. The progress, however, is still not sufficient to enable us to suspend this current unfortunate period of loadshedding.”
It pointed out that implementing loadshedding was the last resort, in order to protect the national grid. “The return to service of a unit each at Tutuka and Kendal power stations has been delayed. Eskom teams are working around the clock to return as many generation units as possible. The colder weather also means demand for electricity has risen significantly. We therefore urge the public to continue assisting us in managing consumption in order to reduce the impact of the supply constraints.”