City Power has altered the Load Limiting intervals from the current 30 second interlude to three minutes.

When City Power implements Load Limiting, households who are above the stipulated threshold of 21Amps get cut off for a period of 30 seconds, in iterations of five disconnections until they have reduced consumption to the required levels.

This includes manually overriding the geyser switches and disconnecting appliances from secondary dwellings such as cottages, servants quarters and outside rooms.

The power outage for non-compliant households will be increased from 30 seconds to three minutes until the consumption has been reduced to required levels.

City Power has also announced that the Load Limiting scheduled has been revised and shortened, and the new time schedules are between 17h15 and 18h45.

Managing Director of City Power, Sicelo Xulu, advised residents not to panic when they experience these prolonged shortages during Load Limiting, but rather manually disconnect energy-guzzling appliances in order to keep the lights on and be spared from the inconvenience of load shedding.

Xulu says Load Limiting is a viable and feasible alternative to load shedding. “With Load Limiting, customers can still enjoy a quality of life they are accustomed to and don’t have to be enveloped by a blanket of darkness during load shedding.

This first to market technology enhances the value proposition of Johannesburg and makes it the ideal place to work and live it gives its residents the ability to avert complete power outages,” says Xulu.

Load limiting

City Power introduced Load Limiting technology to its areas of supply in Johannesburg, and approximately 30 000 smart meters have been uploaded with Load Limiting capabilities.

Load Limiting is a technology that enables City Power to forestall the implementation of the early phases of load shedding by enforcing reduced consumption through remotely disconnecting households that use electricity excessively during peak periods.

Through the implementation of Load Limiting, City Power relieves the load from the grid and reduces the potential of load shedding.

“We appeal to residents to work with us to ensure that we keep the lights on during this difficult period. The implementation of this mitigating intervention, which is a first of its kind in South Africa, will ensure that we use electricity sparingly during periods of constrained supply and thus spare ourselves the inconvenience associated with being completely load shed,” says Xulu.