Pretoria - Due to increased electricity demand and a shortage of generation capacity, Eskom will implement load shedding at 5pm today.
“Eskom will implement stage 1 load shedding from 5pm today, which is likely to continue until 10pm this evening. This is due to increased electricity demand and a shortage of generation capacity resulting from technical faults at some of our power station units,” said the power utility on Tuesday.
Stage 1 load shedding allows for up to 1 000MW to be shed off the grid.
Eskom also 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.
As the country is currently experiencing cold weather conditions across the country, Eskom urged electricity users to consider energy efficient ways of keeping warm.
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 customer call centre 0860 037 566.
Municipal customers should contact their municipalities for information. - SAnews.gov.za
