Tshwane power outage

Eskom says a man died after he was electrocuted in Tshwane. Photo: Unsplash

‘More evidence’ Eskom has secretly implemented Stage 6 load shedding

This would be low, even by Eskom’s standards: But one senior analyst reckons that a ‘disguised’ schedule of Stage 6 load shedding went out last week.

Tshwane power outage

Eskom says a man died after he was electrocuted in Tshwane. Photo: Unsplash

Eskom is full of party tricks: Their attempts to implement ‘load reductions’ in certain parts of the country – to avoid calling more rounds of load shedding – have already come under fire. But one energy expert now believes that the firm is hiding the extent of its nationwide power cuts, claiming that STAGE 6 outages have been secretly smuggled onto the grid.

What is Stage 6 load shedding?

Ted Blom, one of SA’s most prominent energy experts (and one of Eskom’s biggest critics), says he has learned that OVER 5 000 MW of power was removed from the electricity supply this week – a figure which significantly exceeds the parameters of Stage 2 load shedding. Indeed, the senior analyst believes the outages were much more severe.

Any time that 5 000 MW or more is taken away from the power supply, it ventures into Eskom’s own definition of Stage 6 load shedding. Blom is adamant that these levels were reached on Wednesday, as blackouts returned with a vengeance. He’s now accusing Eskom of ‘treating the public like idiots’ and called for accountability from their CEO.

“So load shedding on Wednesday 2 June was actually STAGE 6 [5 136 MW was taken off the grid], vs Stage 2 declared by Eskom. Do they think the public is stupid? Andre de Ruyter stated he is personally in charge of load shedding – who needs to be fired?”

Has Eskom lied to the public?

The country has taken its first steps out of load shedding on Monday – the first time that scheduled outages have been dropped since Friday, where Parliament successfully lobbied for a suspension of the power cuts. Although President Ramaphosa has praised Eskom for ‘progress made’ in tackling the energy crisis, Blom and the public aren’t so sure…