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While load reduction remains a nuisance for KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) residents, many are questioning whether it has been enacted in their area.
Power issues continue to plague South Africa, so understanding when load reduction is implemented will help residents respond appropriately, adjust their schedules to align with the changes, and mitigate impacts.
What is Load Reduction?
Load reduction is a deliberate strategy used by Eskom, KZN’s energy provider, to decrease excessive demand on the electrical grid and prevent damage that can lead to extended and widespread outages.
It’s commonly used in areas with a high prevalence of energy theft and increased energy consumption, with the primary goal of protecting the grid’s infrastructure and keeping its serviced communities safe.
What Is the Difference Between Load Shedding and Load Reduction?
Load shedding and reduction are sometimes used interchangeably, but this is incorrect. Although both aim to balance the supply and demand of electricity, their implementations work differently.
Load shedding follows a predetermined schedule and gradually cuts power across different regions. All power customers are impacted by load shedding without distinction, and the power loss follows a strict schedule. Load reduction, however, targets areas where energy theft and other illegal activities, such as vandalism, are most common.
Load reduction doesn’t require as much lead time to implement and can be used quickly with much shorter notice. It also focuses on precise neighbourhoods experiencing electricity theft, transformer failures, or electrical fires. Load shedding is a formalised program for a utility provider’s entire service area. In contrast, energy reduction is more informal and can be used as needed in areas suffering the most from an imbalance of energy demand and supply.
The Impact of Illegal Connections and Electricity Theft on KZN’s Power Supply
Over the past few years, South Africa has faced increasing challenges involving illegal electric connections and pervasive energy theft. This created an excessive strain on the grid that supplies energy to customers and can have catastrophic impacts, such as repeated and extended outages for up to several weeks to months, damage to expensive infrastructure, and a risk to human life when fires ignite.
KZN’s electricity grid is designed to sustain a certain number of customers on the network. Still, when bad actors bypass their meters or create illegal connections, it makes a demand that the grid simply cannot meet. It often leads to grid overwhelm and equipment failure, creating long-lasting negative customer impact.
After experiencing the most blackout days in history in 2023 (almost 10 hours per day), Eskom is using load reduction throughout KZN and South Africa to avoid rolling blackouts and instead target the areas where the issues are most prominent.
Eskom’s leadership team has confirmed that almost all overwhelmed transformers occur due to indiscriminate energy and electricity theft. Therefore, load reduction has become a necessary strategy to preserve the remaining transformers and safeguard access to electricity for all.
Protecting Assets
Load reduction protects precious assets, from valuable infrastructure to the communities that rely on Eskom for sustained power. The goals and assets Eskom aims to preserve by initiating this strategy include:
- Avoiding explosions and electrical fires, which can damage homes and put lives at risk
- Safeguard expensive equipment worth millions that would be costly and slow to rebuild or repair
- Protect transformers and mini substations
- Avoid extended blackouts, which can last anywhere from a few weeks to several months and impact large populations
While reducing your daily electricity usage can be frustrating, it’s also necessary to preserve the grid infrastructure that so many businesses and residents rely on every day in KZN.
How Can Communities Help Reduce the Impact of Load Reduction?
If you’re a KZN resident unhappy with the realities of electricity reduction, you can help minimise the need for it by supporting the electrical grid and reducing the excessive electricity demand.
First, ensure you’re not part of the problem. Check that your meter is in its correct place and confirm that your vendor is operating legally to ensure your electricity consumption is paid for. Bad actors may attempt to pose as Eskom but source energy in illegal ways, so be careful that your connections are all legal.
You can also try to reduce your home’s overall energy consumption, especially during the hours when demand is at its peak. An overall reduced demand will protect the health of the grid, and when the grid is no longer overwhelmed during peak hours, Eskom may be able to discontinue these energy reduction measures.
One way to reduce your reliance and demand on the grid is to invest in alternative energy sources, such as solar power. EcoFlow Solar Generators and Portable Power Stations can provide sustained backup power during periods of electricity reduction and allow you to live your life as normal, even without grid support.
The EcoFlow DELTA 2 + 400W Solar Panel is enough to power your essential devices and appliances for hours, or you can upgrade to the EcoFlow DELTA Pro + 400W Solar Panel, which can serve as your whole-home backup power source.
Using these power sources during load reduction or at any time can decrease the overall demand on KZN’s grid and allow it to become more resilient. It also helps reduce what you owe on your electric bills. Once the grid returns to a healthy state and electricity theft is mitigated, these efforts may no longer be necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Load shedding is not currently active in KZN, but Eskom has resumed load reduction seven days a week, from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. KZN residents should plan on reducing their electricity during these times and using alternative power sources as needed.
Final Thoughts
While load reduction can interfere with daily schedules and electricity needs, there are ways to manage without grid power when Eskom reduces the available electricity during peak hours in KZN.
By using EcoFlow Solar Generators, you can generate, use, and store your own solar-powered energy. These efforts reduce the demand placed on the grid, allowing it to return to health and mitigate the need for load reduction in the first place.