Eskom launches Winter Plan to keep lights on
Eskom in Gauteng has assured members of the public and all its customers in and around the province that it is doing everything humanly possible to keep the lights on during the course of this winter and to ensure minimal disruption in the provision of electricity.
In a press statement, Eskom said it is aware of, and particularly concerned about, the recent supply interruptions experienced by a number of residents.
Eskom said it is working around the clock to restore supply swiftly.
Eskom has, however, stressed due to the cold conditions and the increase in outages as more people try to heat their living spaces, it is not always able to restore supply as quickly as it would prefer.
Eskom also pointed out that unplanned outages in a street or neighbourhood are often unpredictable and could be caused by overloading, illegal connections, or technical faults.
Eskom also revealed its Distribution Customer-centric Winter Plan, which is designed to ensure that the public, Eskom staff, and environmental safety are the utility giant’s priority.
In the statement Eskom said the plan has already been activated, so that its networks are able to cope with extreme weather conditions and increased electricity demand, as well as respond to, and restore, network faults timeously.
Part of the plan is to prevent and implement measures that will assist in avoiding possible equipment failures and incidents, the management of network delivery failures for the national and provincial networks in winter, the implementation of emergency preparedness plans to manage power system interruptions that might materialise, and the increased capacity of our customer contact centre.
- Public safety
Eskom also said it will, together with various stakeholders, continue to intensify efforts to alert and sensitise the public to the safety risks associated with the irresponsible and wrong use of electricity.
It is during the winter period that Eskom experiences an increase in safety-related incidents and fatalities as a result of illegal connections, meter bypasses, and other forms of tampering with electricity infrastructure.
Eskom has urged all residents to work with Eskom in making this winter a memorable one free of injuries and protest action, which often end in the destruction of the very properties meant to service the community.
Report illegal connections on 08600 37566 or via SMS to Crime Line or to your local police station or Eskom office.
Eskom has assured the public it is s ready and prepared for winter 2017:
•All major substations have emergency preparedness plans readily available
•Eskom is fairly prepared with most medium voltage feeders with EPPs (Mervin Mottian) plans in place
•With all the plans that are in place, no extra-ordinary failures are anticipated
•Equipment spares holding is healthy
•The aviation fleet of helicopters is expected to be boosted with additional two to assist where there’s a need
•The annual maintenance cycle which incorporates the winter plan activities is kept on track
•The Eskom senior management team will be readily available throughout the winter period for any eventualities
