Power cuts last longer than prescribed in George, due to Eskom’s penalties

George mayor Leon van Wyk has laid bare debilitating financial and logistical consequences of load-shedding for the town between Cape Town and Gqeberha on the Garden Route.

“Our biggest challenge continues to be the supply of electricity,” he wrote in his newsletter on Thursday.

“At stage 6 [load-shedding] the municipality has a daily cost of R250,000 for diesel to operate generators for the water and wastewater treatment works, key pump stations and other critical infrastructure. This translates to R7.5m a month. Industrialists lament the cost of diesel compared with electricity.” 

During the council’s approval for an adjustment budget to see the town through to June, he said between July 2022 and January 2023, “we did not have power for 15% of the total daily hours, and in December and January it was 24%".

The rolling blackouts will translate into a loss of about R101m in the town’s budgeted electricity revenue. 

“The costs do not stop there as we have diesel costs and additional overtime needed to deal with the ongoing preventive maintenance of infrastructure being harmed by load-shedding. Under cover of darkness, cable theft and equipment vandalism also occur,” he wrote. 

“The effect is such that it is impossible to reduce costs sufficiently to neutralise the loss of revenue. The effects of the Ukraine war have also led to substantial increases in the price of chemicals required for water purification. The expected shortfall totals R161m, which will undoubtedly affect cash reserves. This means budget planning for 2023/2024 will require a review of expenditure and revenue.” 

And in another twist, the municipality is being forced to prolong load-shedding for some areas because turning on the entire town at once carries the penalty of “increased charges for electricity” by Eskom. 

“Residents will have noted changes to our normally efficient switch-ons after load-shedding. We have a notifiable demand agreement of 85MVA with Eskom, being the electricity they must provide for George at any given moment in a year,” he said. 

“On returning from load-shedding, usage spikes rise to 105MVA-112MVA as geysers, freezers and other high-use equipment switch on. We have been informed that any spike above 85MVA will result in increased charges for electricity due to a higher notifiable demand being triggered. We now need to switch on sections of George in turn, over 30 minutes or longer, to manage total usage within the limit. All our consumers should therefore assist by turning off equipment and waiting to switch it on again only after the power is restored.” 

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