Cold weather puts Joburg power network under pressure as outages continue

Johannesburg residents are being urged to cut back on electricity use as cold and wet weather continues to put pressure on the power network, with hundreds of outage calls open in the city.

City Power said on Monday afternoon it was dealing with 2,450 open outage calls across its eight service delivery centres, down from 2,585 recorded earlier that morning.

Lenasia had the highest number of outstanding calls at 455, followed by:

• Hurst Hill with 445;
• Randburg with 357;
• Reuven with 354;
• the inner-city with 343;
• Alexandra 257;
• Roodepoort 201; and
• Midrand 38.

The latest inner-city service delivery centre update issued at 8am on Tuesday showed 414 open calls, 290 of which had been logged in the previous 24 hours.

City Power warned the power system remained constrained and appealed to customers to reduce their electricity consumption to prevent further overloads.

The utility said cold weather was driving up electricity use as residents turned to heaters, geysers, stoves and other high-energy appliances to keep warm.

City Power will not compromise the safety of employees, contractors or members of the public in an effort to accelerate restoration work during unsafe weather conditions

—  City Power

“During periods of intense cold, thousands of customers can increase their electricity consumption at roughly the same time, particularly during the morning and night peak periods,” it said.

This increased demand can put pressure on transformers, mini-substations and cables, sometimes causing equipment to trip and leave areas without power.

The problem is made worse in areas where the network is under strain because of:

• illegal connections;
• meter bypassing;
• informal settlements;
• unplanned developments; and
• the growing number of backyard dwellings.

Rain is making it harder for teams to repair some faults.

City Power said inclement weather could affect its response times, meaning some repairs and restoration work could be delayed.

“City Power will not compromise the safety of employees, contractors or members of the public in an effort to accelerate restoration work during unsafe weather conditions,” it said.

The inner-city update said operators would only investigate the outage affecting Braamfontein and Parktown once weather conditions allowed safe access to the affected network.

The outage, reported on Tuesday, is affecting customers at Wits Campus, Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and surrounding areas.

A separate outage at the Braamfontein substation, reported on Monday, was also still being investigated. City Power said the team could not investigate the fault on Monday night because of access challenges, but a day shift team would be sent out on Tuesday.

There is also an unresolved problem at the John Ware substation, where an outage reported on August 7 continues to affect parts of Newtown and surrounding areas.

City Power said tests on the faulty unit had been unsuccessful and a replacement mini-substation had been procured. The team was finalising the appointment of a service provider to carry out the replacement work.

City Power is asking residents and businesses to reduce unnecessary electricity use, particularly during the morning peak between 5am and 9am and the night peak between 5pm and 9pm

The utility stressed not all outages were caused by the cold weather. Its teams are also dealing with cable faults, equipment failures, infrastructure theft, vandalism and other technical problems.

“We recognise prolonged electricity outages during extremely cold weather are particularly difficult for affected customers,” said City Power.

For residents battling freezing conditions without electricity, the delays can make life particularly difficult, especially for people relying on electricity to heat their homes and prepare meals.

City Power is asking residents and businesses to reduce unnecessary electricity use, particularly during the morning peak between 5am and 9am and the night peak between 5pm and 9pm.

Residents are also being advised not to use several high-energy appliances at the same time and to switch off appliances and lights that are not needed.

Those without power should unplug their appliances while the electricity is off. Once power returns, appliances should be switched on gradually to avoid putting too much pressure on the network and causing another trip.

City Power has reminded customers about planned power interruptions:

• A planned interruption at the Central substation is scheduled for August 11 from 3pm to 6pm, affecting:
• End Street;
• Fox Street;
• Main Street;
• Phillips Street; and
• Anderson Street.
• A planned interruption at the Braamfontein substation is scheduled for August 27 from 8.30am to 4.30pm, affecting several streets in the area, including:
• Juta Street;
• De Korte South;
• Smith Street West;
• Wits Showground;
• Wolmarans West Street;
• Nico Mostert;
• Wolmarans Smith Street;
• Liberty Life;
• Smith Street East; and
• Wolmarans East; and
• the Gautrain.

City Power confirmed load-shedding has been suspended until further notice.

With temperatures expected to remain low, the utility said its teams would continue working through the backlog while responding to new faults.

Customers can report outages on 011-490-7484 or use the toll-free number 0800-003-156, which is available daily between 6am and 6pm. Updates are also available through City Power’s social media channels.

The utility apologised for the inconvenience and appealed to customers for patience as teams work to restore power under difficult weather and network conditions.

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