City businesses discuss ways to deal with energy crisis
Load shedding and continued power outages are keeping local businesses on tenterhooks.
At least two business people told a business summit held at the Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business (PMCB) that they did not know if they could wait for Msunduzi Municipality to implement the renewable energy initiative they have been talking about. The gist of the summit was to secure alternative energy sources through independent power producers (IPPs). Some of the IPPs mentioned were gas, solar and hydroelectric.
In a statement released last month, the municipality said that the uMgungundlovu Economic Development Agency (Umeda) has established an energy security intervention through IPPs in partnership with the PMCB.
Two concerned businessmen
Maritzburg Sun told that inaction in finding solutions will see businesses closing down and people losing jobs, thereby exerting more pressure on the already struggling local economy.
Webroy's general manager, Gary Royston, said their biggest problem is the unplanned outages, rather than the load shedding.
"It causes untold disruptions and we have been trying to calculate how much it is going to cost us to stop and start over and over during the outages. This challenge makes the battery technology sound cheap. We do not think that there is any other solution but to take it on ourselves because it does not look like the municipality or anyone is going to help," said Royston.
Businesswoman, Terri Clapperton, said everybody should be involved in finding possible solutions to the electricity crisis.
The chief sustainability officer at Belgotex said: "I'm happy to hear about IPPs coming on board. However, I felt that a solution was put before us even though we had no idea of its coming, which was a shock because there hasn't been much engagement before".
During the summit, Umgungundlovu Economic Development Agency (Umeda) and Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business (PMCB) together with
National Federated Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) shared possible solutions to the energy crisis.
PMCB chief executive, Melanie Veness, said among the challenges of load shedding is the creation of an unfair environment for trading.
"Many of our members, like the Cape and Durban Chambers to name a few, have a lot of manufacturers that are embedded in our municipal network. I think the unintended consequences of Eskom's easiest way to deal with the [power] shortage is by declaring a load shedding demand on municipalities," said Veness.
She said there are bigger cities and metros that are able to isolate the industrial areas and spare businesses from load shedding, unlike Pietermaritzburg where our electricity infrastructure is not designed to do the same.
Umeda's James Martin assured businesses that they act as wholesalers by presenting some renewable energy solutions so that businesses don't have to go out and look on their own.
"Load shedding is a killer in this global economy. Job security and business security should be of great importance. We need to find a short-term solution to stop load shedding in industrial zones," said Martin.
Deputy mayor Mxolisi Mkhize said the challenge of the energy crisis requires all to work together.
"KwaZulu-Natal has the potential to lead the way," said Mkhize.