City Power Modifies Load Shedding Protocol in Johannesburg Amid Public Feedback

As load shedding continues to affect the daily lives of South Africans, Johannesburg's City Power announced significant changes to its load shedding schedules, aiming to address residents' complaints regarding the frequency and duration of power cuts. The entity, which began managing load shedding independently from Eskom in November, initially shifted from four-hour to two-hour episodes, leading to a surge in grievances due to the repetition of power cuts within short intervals.

City Power's spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, acknowledged the public's concerns, citing that "While shorter load shedding episodes were initially appreciated during lower stages, they became burdensome at higher stages, resulting in residents experiencing power outages multiple times within a few hours." He added, "The higher the stage of load shedding, the more frequently blocks are shed, going up to roughly 10 hours during stage 6."

In response to these complaints and after technical adjustments, City Power is ready to implement a new load shedding approach starting from Christmas Day. This change will reintroduce four-hour load shedding episodes during the higher stages to reduce the repetitiveness experienced by customers.

Notably, City Power also announced the discontinuation of the usual four-hour split load shedding periods between 10 pm to 12:30 am and from 12 am to 2:30 am, thanks to the addition of two new blocks. Mangena highlighted, "While these particular periods will not be a regular occurrence, on rare events such as leap years, customers will be informed in advance."

Furthermore, the power utility reiterates that essential services, select businesses, and key customers will continue to be shielded from load shedding as per the new schedule. City Power's ongoing mission is to improve the situation for more entities, aiming to exempt additional crucial services from power interruptions.

As a result of the latest schedule changes, Johannesburg residents should anticipate a rearrangement of the load shedding blocks. Mangena extended apologies for the inconvenience caused by these alterations but emphasized that these changes are designed with customer interests in mind. All updates, including the restructured blocks, are accessible on City Power's official website from Monday onward.

City Power is determined to keep residents fully informed about load shedding updates and encourages everyone to stay up-to-date by visiting their website or signing up for their news updates on WhatsApp and other platforms.