Pretoria - Eskom will implement stage 1 load shedding as of 5pm, Eskom said on Tuesday.
“Eskom will implement stage 1 load shedding from 5pm today, which is likely to continue until 10pm this evening. This is due to a shortage of generation capacity resulting from technical faults at some of our units,” said the power utility.
The power utility assured customers that load shedding is implemented as a necessary measure to protect the power system and to ensure that maintenance is carried out in order to guarantee that the supply of electricity can be maintained in the long term.
“Any unexpected changes on the vulnerable and constrained power system could lead to a change in the load shedding stage at short notice.”
Eskom called on all customers to reduce the load on the electricity grid by urgently switching off geysers, air conditioners, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances throughout the day, which will reduce electricity demand.
Commercial customers, particularly shopping centres and office blocks, can also make a big difference by switching off non-essential lights and not leaving office equipment such as photocopiers and computers in standby mode after hours.
Eskom will use the published load shedding schedules which are available on the Eskom website (http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za) for Eskom customers. Eskom customers can also contact its call centre on 0860 037 566.
Municipal customers should contact their municipalities for information. –SAnews.gov.za
