| Save power and save money |
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| Written by Lesego Madumo | |
| Wednesday, 19 December 2007 | |
City Power is working on improving its wire network to reduce outages and power surges
Energy efficiency should become a way of life. Its benefits include saving power, saving money and saving the world. There will also be fewer blackouts. WITH load shedding here to stay, Eskom has urged residents and businesses to cut down on their electricity consumption. The national electricity supplier has been rolling out calculated blackouts – called load shedding - countrywide in an attempt to get people to use energy sparingly. "When there is not enough electricity available to meet the demand from all Eskom's customers, it [may be] necessary to interrupt supply to certain areas; this is called load shedding," said Kevin Nassiep, the chief executive officer of the National Energy Research Institute. "Occasionally, when demand goes unexpectedly high, cities suddenly become victims of load shedding. This does not last longer than two hours." Nassiep said Eskom planned these outages because it lacked sufficient capacity to provide services to the whole country. There was also an increased demand for power. "If we had enough capacity to provide the service, then load shedding could be avoided," he said, adding that Eskom did not have the required capacity to accommodate the increased demand and distribute electricity efficiently. The problem was partly caused by residents and their irresponsible use of electrical appliances. "Households need to learn to save electricity and put off some of the unnecessary appliances … For instance, if you are watching TV you don't need to put on lights in the [other room]." Save power, save money 
Eskom has called on consumers to use electricity sparingly
Saving electricity would also save money. "Once you start saving electricity you can save money, which can be used for other important things in the house." Nassiep noted that businesses also needed to decrease their energy usage. They should switch off lights and air conditioners at night as "that way we can have more energy efficiency". Eskom has pleaded with businesses to keep non-essential lighting and office equipment switched off, especially during peak periods between 7am to 10am and 6pm to 9pm. Nassiep explained that there were planned and forced outages, which contributed equally to load shedding. Planned outages were essential for maintenance to be carried out, as power often had to be switched off during the operation. But forced outages were uncontrollable. These happened because of cable theft. Because load shedding was a serious issue, forcing retailers and businesses to shut down for the duration and leading to major loss of revenue, the message to save energy would continue to be put across, Nassiep said. "The problem is when we started preaching this message, people did not take it seriously. I think by now everybody knows something about load shedding, and they are grabbing the message slowly by the day. This should encourage them to save some more" and reduce unnecessary power outages.
Last resort Load shedding schedules are drawn up to limit the number of areas that will bear the brunt of the shortages. "[It] is done on a rotational basis, where possible. Eskom tries to avoid load shedding in areas where there are critical and sensitive services." These include hospitals, economic hubs, strategic product areas and high security areas. There is an effective way to avoid blackouts, the utility adds. "By rotating the load in a planned and controlled manner, the system remains stable," it claims. It also urges its customers to use electricity sparingly and so minimise the risk of load shedding. It has warned that there will be blackouts in the first weeks of the new year, and expects load shedding to continue for another six years, until 2014. "We appeal to all consumers to use electricity sparingly and to use electrical equipment such as air conditioning, geysers and swimming pool pumps as efficiently as possible in order to reduce the demand for electricity and to assist in minimising load shedding," it says.
City Power To meet the needs of all customers, City Power has to concentrate on improving its wire network to reduce outages and power surges. "Considerable progress has been made, with 70 percent of customers rating the service as good," Nkgoedi noted. The introduction of 50 kWh of free electricity a month from June 2002 had been very well received by residents, City Power said. Put in context, this enables a household to run two 60W lights and a TV set for four hours a day for four months, consuming just over half the free allocation. "This was one of the first and highest initiatives in the country and is a considerable benefit to customers in poor communities." According to the National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA), there are several ways a user can unsure that energy is used efficiently and sparingly. They should buy appliances bearing energy efficient labels and switch off geysers during the day, particularly during peak hours from 7am until 10am and from 6pm until 9pm.
Energy efficient "Fridges and freezers with the new South Africa Appliance Label show how much electricity the appliance uses so that you can take an informed decision and buy an efficient appliance with a low operating cost." It advises people to ensure that the seals on their fridge doors are in good condition and that the doors are closed properly. In addition, they should not open the fridge door more than necessary. If you are making one cup of tea, boil only enough water for that cup, and when toasting bread use the toaster and not the oven, it says. "If you have a gas furnace for home heating, change the filter monthly to save money. Reduce demand by putting in more efficient lights and using day lighting to reduce cooling loads." The NEEA points out that energy resources, namely coal, electricity, gas, and liquid fuels, are not limitless. "So it's up to all of us to become energy wise. That means you, your family, your friends and every other South African must start using energy efficiently … It is not possible to stop using energy, but we can try to use it in a smarter way, use our energy resources more efficiently. It's in your power to use energy efficiently." The agency was set up in 2006 by the Department of Minerals and Energy as part of its broader strategy to reduce overall energy demand by 12 percent by 2015. It is a division within the Central Energy Fund, an organisation set up to seek ways to meet the country's growing needs.
Global trend "We are all in a difficult situation together and we should do what we can to alleviate the problem by saving power wherever possible." Part of the NEEA's objective is to identify and develop a strategy looking at the growing demand for energy, including gas, electricity, and liquid petroleum. Erica Johnson, Eskom's managing director for systems operations and planning, said that the utility appreciated people heeding the call to use electricity sparingly. The utility would continue with scheduled maintenance of its generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure until the end of summer, "which is critical to ensure optimum performance of the system". She said Eskom urged all citizens to save energy in their homes and places of work to reduce demand on the electricity system. For more information and updates on load shedding schedules, visit the Eskom website or call its customer call centre on 086 003 7566.
Price rise Electricity is one of the main drivers in cleaning water; if its price increases, then water prices are bound to increase. "The rise in electricity prices will affect water prices and therefore affect the poor, who are already finding the cost of living hard," a water representative warned, adding that water was a necessity, without which no one could live. Customers have been advised to continue conserving energy and switching off non-essential appliance to help cut the demand for electricity. For more energy saving tips, visit the National Energy Efficiency Agency website.
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