City Power ready to tackle winter outage

City Power ready to tackle winter outages

11 May 2017

City Power, the City of Johannesburg’s electricity utility, has put several contingency measures in place to mitigate possible power outages as temperatures begin to plummet with the onset of winter.

The move was announced at the launch of the entity’s winter campaign during a media briefing at its Booysens head office on Wednesday May 10.

The plan, which includes the replacement of 30 generators, is in response to the expected increase in electricity demand as a result of the anticipated icy wintry weather, which has the effect of overloading the entity’s network and making it prone to outages.

City Power spokesman Virgil James said focus would be on areas that had been frequently experiencing repeated power outages.

“Resources will also be prioritised to address these challenges. We plan to increase the number of technicians attending to outages. More teams will be dispatched to these affected areas. The winter plan has led us to replace and repair sections of the cables that have contributed to repeated power outages,” James said.

He added that aluminium cables would be used instead of copper cables as they did not have a resale value. At the same time, the entity has called on residents to assist it in providing uninterrupted power supply by using it sparingly.

“Residents should consider alternatives and less-intensive heating methods such as gas, compact lighting and solar water heaters or generate heat through conventional fireplaces. This will, in turn, decrease the overloading of the network and prevent unplanned outages while easing pressure off the grid, especially during winter,” said James.

The following are some of the tips that can help to save electricity during winter:

Set up your pool pump to run for shorter periods;
Switch off lights in unoccupied rooms;
Use electric blankets to preheat the bed for 15 minutes;
Dress warmly and use fleece blankets;
Use thicker curtains and change to darker colours as they retain more heat;
Let in plenty of warm sunlight during the day by keeping the curtains open wide;
Close the curtains as soon as the sun sets to seal in all the warmth;
Use appropriate size pot for each plate when cooking;
Use or change to oil or wall heaters;
Open spaces are more difficult to heat; and
Make use of a geyser blanket.

Set up your pool pump to run for shorter periods;

Switch off lights in unoccupied rooms;

Use electric blankets to preheat the bed for 15 minutes;

Dress warmly and use fleece blankets;

Use thicker curtains and change to darker colours as they retain more heat;

Let in plenty of warm sunlight during the day by keeping the curtains open wide;

Close the curtains as soon as the sun sets to seal in all the warmth;

Use appropriate size pot for each plate when cooking;

Use or change to oil or wall heaters;

Open spaces are more difficult to heat; and