Ratepayers urged to save electricity

DURBAN residents have been urged to reduce their electricity usage as much as possible after Eskom announced a plan of introducing rolling blackouts this winter.

This is because several Eskom power stations need repairs and maintenance that cannot be postponed.

If the repairs are not done, it could result in the entire system collapsing and causing more damage to the economy.

Eskom provides 95 percent of the power to the country.

Deena Govender, eThekwini’s senior manager for electricity pricing and marketing, said the city had no plan regarding the planned blackouts, but urged people to save as much electricity as they can, especially between 5pm and 9pm – peak hours for electricity usage.

“We are also caught between a rock and a hard place because it is something that has to be done and there is no other way,” he said.

Govender said that as a city, they have always called on residents to save electricity all the time.

But now they were asking them to try to use even less than before in the light of Eskom’s announcement.

“We are urging residents to use only the necessities like stoves and to ensure that their geysers and lights are switched off when they are not needed ,” he said.

Govender also urged people not to use their heaters at all this winter.

Govender said it is the first time that these blackouts would happen in winter.