As the winter season takes grip of the country, Eskom is ready to keep the lights on.
“Eskom has committed to continue keeping the lights on this winter despite the severe weather conditions that have already started to grip the country,” said the power utility.
Eskom said it is aware that the past few weeks not only signalled the start of winter but also indicated the impact the weather conditions will have on the company’s electricity distribution networks.
“The company has a plan, namely the Eskom Distribution Customer Centric Winter Plan, which is designed to ensure that the public, Eskom staff and environmental safety are our priority,” said Eskom group executive for distribution Mongezi Ntsokolo.
In addition, the winter plan has already been activated so that networks are able to cope with the extreme weather conditions, 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 the 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,” said Ntsokolo.
As temperatures continue to drop, Eskom has called on its customers to continue to use electricity sparingly.
“Customers also need to be vigilant of the risks of illegal electricity connections and we urge public support in reporting illegal activities like cable and electricity theft,” said Ntsokolo. — SAnews