Eskom To Serve Legal Notices To Municipalities Which Don’t Comply With Load Shedding

Eskom has reported several big metros and other key industrial sites which are allegedly undermining the power utility’s instruction to implement load shedding to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for action to be taken against them.

The power utility has also threatened to carry out compulsory load shedding if these entities continue to fail to comply with the instruction to load shed.

This was revealed by Eskom distribution executive Monde Bala and chief executive officer Andre de Ruyter when they gave the latest update on the state of load shedding in the country on Wednesday afternoon.

De Ruyter had earlier also revealed that the power utility was ready to lift load shedding by 5am on Saturday, saying Eskom had managed to recover several megawatts from several of its plants in the country.

But it was the conduct of several unnamed metros and other key industries which were giving the power utility a big headache. Only eThekwini and Buffalo City metros complied fully, they said.

Bala declined to disclose the names of the big municipalities and other entities, saying that was contained in the supplier agreements these “defaulting parties’ had entered into with Eskom.

He, however, indicated that Eskom had already drafted the letters to them and Nersa, informing them about possible remedial actions if they fail to comply with load shedding instructions.

While he failed to disclose the defaulters, Bala did confirm that they would meet with the City of Cape Town regarding Steynsrus Power Plant’s ability to assist in the slight ease of the effects of load shedding in the area.

The meeting came after DA leader John Steenhuisen, during his municipal elections campaign, was adamant that the City of Cape Town was able to lower stages of load shedding announced by Eskom.

In his campaign, Steenhuisen, “If Eskom introduces Stage 2 load shedding, the City of Cape Town announces stage 1 of load shedding.”

But according to Bala: “Eskom has not seen the benefits of that”.

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