In the dark? What you need to know about Bay power cuts
Frustrations are running high as businesses and residents go for hours without power – with the Stage 4 load-shedding schedule hitting them particularly hard.
The Herald has put some of the more frequently asked questions – including those from our readers – to the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, to which municipal spokesperson Kupido Baron has responded.
Q: Who determines which group will be affected when, and who sets the boundaries for each group?
A: This is determined by a programme which is developed in advance.
Load-shedding started as far back as 2008 – since then, we have put in place a process that is led by the systems operation division at the [municipal] electricity and energy directorate which has ultimate control over the network.
This unit determines the boundaries.
The municipality has schedules for planned load-shedding a month ahead of the time.
What can happen is that when we are asked to change to a different stage, we change over – sometimes it might affect one area again simply because it was planned ahead of the time.
The intention is to balance out load-shedding between the different areas and to avoid a situation where one area is shed more often than another.
Q: For non-prepaid users, why is the power off sometimes for more than 12 hours per 24-hour schedule but, customers claim, they still have to pay almost the same amount?
A: Each consumer only pays for the electricity drawn or used. We contest this claim.
Q: Who is responsible for switching the electricity on and off? Or does Eskom send directives to municipalities to switch off at certain times per schedule? Who controls the on and off switch?
A: We are responsible for switching off circuits that fall within the Bay municipality jurisdiction. Eskom would advise on the load-shedding stage which would reflect the percentage loading that is required to be shed.
Q: A lot of people are saying they have experienced situations where some parts within areas like Westering, Kabega Park, Central and Uitenhage which are experiencing loadshedding, are not affected. Why?
A: Certain areas would not be shed due to circuits which supply hospitals, strategic critical loads, etc. At this moment, no large industrial consumers are affected.
Areas supplied by our Kragga Kamma substation are not shed for the safety of operators and equipment due to the age of the switchgear at the substation. This is being refurbished and due for completion later this year, whereafter loadshedding would take place.
Q: Why does load-shedding at times go on for more than the scheduled number of hours?
A: The municipality strives to stay within the notified hours. However, instances may occur where a fault may arise or the inrush current causes circuits to “trip out”, which requires operators to be dispatched to site to carry out manual switching operations.
Q: What are you doing to communicate load-shedding information to people, particularly to those who do not have access to social media?
A: All aspects of the loadshedding programme are on the official website. All offices throughout the municipality would have access to the loadshedding programmes.
Consumers can contact their ward councillor’s offices as well. In addition, traditional media such as newspapers, radio stations and other media houses are copied on social media posts for them to publish new developments on a continuous basis.
The municipality connects directly with its target audiences on social media and ensures that information reaches residents timeously.
Q: Consumers are paying availability charges every month. But why are they paying that when they don’t have power?
A: In certain instances, consumers would pay availability charges, in particular, where the maximum demand cannot be metered.