Eskom's doing a great job!

Eskom’s doing a great job!

By Jack Ward, MD of Powermode

No.... really, it is!  We’ve had few - if no - power outages or loads-shedding due to lack of capacity in recent months.

Eskom, under new CEO, Brian Dames, seems to be reinvigorated. Admirably, the organisation is meeting the many challenges it faces.   And commendably, it’s also communicating effectively with the public.   So I give Eskom a B+ for effort.

Why only B+ you ask?

Well, Eskom’s capacity problems are disguised by the fact that overall sales of electricity increased by only 0.2% last year.  Of even greater concern is that last year Eskom paid the Ferro Chrome industry R1.8 billion not to produce (nice work if you can get it!) thereby reducing electricity consumption by 1000 MWh. It also spent R1.5 billion on the operation of large, open-cycle gas turbine generators to boost production. 

Without these measures, load shedding would have been certain and widespread.

So, what of the future? It’s hard to say, but for now, things seem to be “under control”.  However, the situation could change if the economy picks up or should Eskom experience any unplanned down time.

My recommendation is, as always – BE PREPARED. Ensure that your emergency power solutions are serviced regularly and are ready to work for you when required.

Remember, peace of mind comes from a programme of diligent and committed planned maintenance and upkeep.