Ramokgopa makes big load reduction promises

Minister of Energy and Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has committed to eradicating load reduction within the next 12 months. 

At a press briefing on 25 September, Ramokgopa said that load reduction will be eliminated within the next year, which might be extended to 18 months if ‘communities do not cooperate.’ 

Load reduction is the intentional cutting off of electricity by Eskom during peak hours in certain areas due to the overloading of downstream infrastructure. 

Ramokgopa explained that load reduction is mostly used in areas where illegal connections are common. 

This has resulted in a phenomenon that disproportionately affects the poor, while affluent areas “get off scot free.”

Various media comments suggest that load reduction occurs because Eskom is dishonest, faces generation issues, and is penalizing the poor to lower demand.

“This is not true. Demand on a day like today is about 26,000 MW – we generate substantially more than that. We can provide for everyone. Load reduction is a result of the constrained environment,” said the minister

Eskom’s plan to tackle load reduction will focus on three provinces, which Ramokgopa said experience 80% of the country’s load reduction: Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga.

Gauteng is the “centre of gravity of load reduction”, according to the minister, experiencing 38% of load reduction. 

According to the department’s calculations, this amounts to 632,158 customers experiencing regular load reduction. The department plans to reduce this number by 145,000 by next year.

Limpopo takes second place in load reduction, affecting 349,370 customers. The minister said the department will halve this number by March 2026.

“This is a conservative number for Limpopo, I think we can do significantly more than that” he said. 

In order to eradicate load reduction, Ramokgopa plans to reduce illegal connections by expanding infrastructure, reduce the cost of electricity through the use of new technology, and roll out smart meters to allow for more targeted forms of load reduction. 

Reducing illegal connections will be particularly difficult in urban areas of Gauteng, according to the minister, as there are syndicates that benefit from illegal connections. 

He further acknowledged that there are delinquent employees of Eskom and municipalities who are connecting people illegally. 

“There is a cost of not doing this”

The department plans to roll out infrastructure in areas that have not been electrified and are running on illegal electricity, to allow users to benefit from the Free Basic Electricity scheme. 

The minister acknowledged, however, that the scheme is insufficient, as low-income households use an average of 200 kW/h of electricity per month. Free Basic Electricity only provides households with 50 kW/h per month.

This electrification process will require the cooperation of communities. 

The minister said that, if the department encounters community resistance to the programme, the department will leave without installing the infrastructure, and the area will be placed at the bottom of the list.

This electrification process can only take place, however, in regularised settlements. Ramokgopa said that electrifying those who are illegally occupying land would open Eskom up to litigation from landowners. 

“So municipalities must regularize informal settlements for this to happen, which must be finalised through official processes.”

There are complaints from those who pay their electricity bills and are connected legally, but still endure load reduction due to their proximity to illegally connected households. 

The minister’s response to this issue is the planned rollout of smart meters, which, he says, will allow for targeted load reduction on households that can afford to pay their electricity bills but have not. 

“This will give us the technical agility to isolate customers so that we don’t punish others,” he said. 

The minister said that he is aware that the cost of electricity has reached unaffordable levels, increasing by 937% in the last ten years. These plans to stop load reduction will be costly as well. 

He explained, however, that the department does not want to burden the treasury with requests for money.

This will, instead, be sourced from Eskom’s balance sheet. Ramokgopa said that, while the process may be expensive in the short term, “there is a cost of not doing this.”

In provinces outside of Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga, Ramokgopa said load reduction will be easily eradicated within the 12-18 month framework.