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Stage 1 load shedding will end at 22:00 - As it happened

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03 Feb 2015

DA Parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane's spokesperson told Fin24 that the DA will brief the media on how Eskom should be handling the crisis.

“The march will be a follow up on last year when we handed a memorandum to the Department of Energy,” Mabine Seabe said.

“We will be calling for Eskom to be broken up so that certain elements of the operation can be privatised.”

03 Feb 2015

Are you attending the DA protest on Eskom? Send us your photos from the march.

03 Feb 2015

Government help Eskom had received in the past included the R350 billion guarantee framework agreement, a subordinated loan of R60bn, and a package of solutions announced in September 2014, which included an equity injection of at least R20bn. "The government announced in January 2015 that the first R10bn tranche would be injected before June 2015," Marty told Sapa.

03 Feb 2015

"Absent a substantial increase in tariffs beyond what is already planned for the remainder of MYPD3, Moody’s does not anticipate a material improvement in Eskom’s financial profile before new generation capacity comes on stream," Marty told Sapa.

The agency expected Eskom's credit metrics to remain very weak in the next 12 to 18 months. This was compounded by South Africa’s slowing macro-economic environment, in turn partly driven by Eskom's problems.

Marty said the agency's Ba1 rating of Eskom was due to the parastatal's weak operational performance and stretched financial profile, and Moody's expectation of high government support.

03 Feb 2015

Beyond a large increase in tariffs, a material improvement in Eskom's financial profile is not expected before new generation capacity comes on stream, Moody's Investors Service told Sapa on Tuesday.

"Weak operational performance combined with insufficient tariffs and a large capex [capital expenditure] programme continue to weigh on the company’s financial profile," said Paul Marty, vice president-senior analyst, in an issuer comment.

03 Feb 2015

DA press release:

Maimane to lead demonstration outside Eskom HQ  

DA Parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane MP will lead a demonstration in support of breaking Eskom’s monopoly over South Africa’s power supply.  

Eskom currently supplies 95% of our country’s electricity, but can no longer deliver the power South Africa needs.  

Due to Eskom’s mismanagement, load shedding has cost the economy an estimated R300 billion since 2008, and 1 000 000 jobs.  

The time has come to break the Eskom monopoly before it breaks South Africa.   

At the demonstration, Maimane will outline demands for the immediate reforms needed to resolve South Africa’s electricity crisis.  

The protest will take place as follows:  

Date: Wednesday, 04 February 2015
Time: 11:00
Venue: Eskom, Megawatt Park, Maxwell Drive, Sunninghill

03 Feb 2015

Load shedding will only impact certain zones that are scheduled between 17:00 and 22:00.

03 Feb 2015

To deal with load shedding in Cape Town, all hospitals are equipped with functioning generators, spokesperson for the Western Cape Health Department Mark van der Heever told Health24.  

"The generators are programmed to start-up automatically when there is a power failure. This immediate start-up ensures that there is no negative effect on life-supporting equipment during power outages."

FULL STORY

03 Feb 2015

DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane is planning a protest demonstration on Eskom’s headquarters at Megawatt Park on Wednesday. This comes after the DA leader Helen Zille said that keeping Eskom’s monopoly and control is more important to the ANC than solving this crisis.
FULL STORY

03 Feb 2015

Some people have asked why load shedding has happened now that everyone has left work.  Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said that there was normally a spike in usage at this time, because consumers went home and turned on their stoves for dinner, as well as their TVs and other household appliances.

03 Feb 2015

Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe told Fin24 that in addition to this there was a further loss of generating capacity and would give further details as soon as he has all the relevant information.

03 Feb 2015

Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe told Fin24 that there was no change in the situation where units at three power stations had lost part of its generating capacity. Tutuka’s unit 6 experienced a condenser tube leak on Monday night and had to be taken offline,Duvha’s unit 6 had an outage so that repairs could be done on its oil cooler, while work was ongoing atKoeberg’s unit 1, which experienced an earth fault on the generator transformer on Sunday.

03 Feb 2015

Here is Durban's load shedding schedule. The below zones are affected:
17:00-18:30 = Block C
18:00-20:30 = Block F
20:00-22:00 = Block G
DOWNLOAD PDF

03 Feb 2015

City of Ekurhuleni (Johannesburg) load shedding schedules can be found below.
CLICK HERE

03 Feb 2015

Eskom statement

POWER ALERT 2

Load shedding to be implemented at 17:00 until 22:00 today

Tuesday, 03 February 2015: Due to a shortage of electricity generation capacity, Eskom will implement (stage 1) load shedding at 17:00 this afternoon, which will continue until 22:00 this evening.

We will communicate if there is a need to move from stage 1 to stage 2.The power system remains constrained and will remain so for the rest of this summer. Any extra load or faults in the system may necessitate the need to go into load shedding. We therefore urge all electricity customers to reduce their consumption in order to reduce the severity of load shedding.You can assist in reducing the load on the electricity grid by urgently switching off geysers, air conditioners, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances throughout the day, which will reduce electricity demand.

As workers leave office buildings this evening we ask that they please switch off the lights, with the exception of security lighting and avoid leaving on air-conditioning overnight and other office appliances.Commercial customers, particularly shopping centres and office blocks, can also make a big difference by switching off non-essential lights and not leaving office equipment such as photocopiers and computers in standby mode after hours.

Eskom customers can check load shedding schedules on the Eskom website (http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za) or contact our customer call centre on 0860 037 566. Municipal customers are urged to contact their local authorities.Eskom will provide regular updates on the status of the power system throughout the day.

Eskom website

03 Feb 2015

Only three zones in Cape Town will be impacted. They are:

17:00-18:30 = Zone 1
18:00-20:30 = Zone 2
20:00-22:00 = Zone 3

03 Feb 2015

Cape Town's new load shedding schedule:

Cape Town Load Shedding Schedule 2015

03 Feb 2015

The health dangers of load shedding: South Africa's electricity crisis threatens to cripple the economy, but it can be downright dangerous to your health too. Here's how to protect yourself when darkness falls.
Read Health24's full story

03 Feb 2015

Democratic Alliance: "Under [ex-Nersa CEO Phindile] Baleni’s leadership Nersa has remained a steadfast defender of the South African consumer, obstructing Eskom from bank-rolling its mismanagement at our expense."
FULL STORY

03 Feb 2015

Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe: “We do feel South Africans are coming to the party [in terms of conserving electricity] and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the many households and residents and commercial and industry customers who are assisting us in terms of reducing the load."

03 Feb 2015

There may be a lesson in the aborted load shedding, as Eskom's spokesperson praised consumers for heeding the call to reduce their electricity consumption.
FULL STORY

03 Feb 2015

The resignation of the National Energy Regulator of SA CEO Phindile Baleni will lead to hikes in the electricity price, the Democratic Alliance says.
FULL STORY

03 Feb 2015

Eskom has announced that load shedding will take place from 17:00 to 22:00 on Tuesday evening, which follows a day of load shedding confusion for consumers.
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