MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Please note that Eskom has just confirmed the implementation of Stage 6 Load-shedding. The implication is that stage 6 doubles the frequency of stage 3, which means that outages will be scheduled for four hours at a time.
According to the Ministry of Local Government, Environmental Affairs & Development Planning, the COO of Eskom has indicated that when Stage 6 is implemented for a 24-hour period, most people will find themselves without electricity for six hours on that day, though that may be split into blocks of two hours.
The Municipal Electrical Department will only be able to reset circuit breakers at substations once the network loads are reduced.
For this reason, the Municipality requests the cooperation of residents to switch off all non-essential equipment such as geysers and/or heaters/pool pumps, etc. before a scheduled load-shedding, and not to switch it back on as soon as the electricity supply is restored.
Please rather wait a minute or two for the supply to normalize before switching on any equipment.
It is anticipated that load shedding will continue for the rest of the week due to severe power system constraints which are beyond the control of Mossel Bay Municipality.
This is due to a significant deterioration of Eskom’s operations that has been exacerbated by the ongoing wildcat strike which has led to associated losses due to coal and labour issues.
According to the Eskom load-shedding schedules, Mossel Bay Municipality will, unfortunately, be affected during our peak periods in the evenings when the system load is significantly higher due to the cold weather conditions.
Some parts of Mossel Bay have been experiencing continuous tripping of circuit breakers at substations immediately after the load shedding which is causing prolonged interruptions mainly due to cold load pick-ups and the simultaneous use of appliances.
We, therefore, urge consumers to use electricity sparingly during this period and to switch off all non-essential loads including geysers and pool pumps prior to load shedding to avoid any overload conditions after load-shedding.
The Municipality would like to assure the public that everything possible will be done to minimise the effects of load shedding and that standby teams will immediately respond to complaints/queries in all areas.
Mossel Bay Municipality sincerely regrets any inconvenience emanating from the effects of Eskom’s load-shedding.
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