Me, naaa, not a bit. Have wood and gas man. Can have meetinsg in a pub “maaan”.
The salary the wife brings in … hell I’m tense yes!!! 
Jip! This time of year is the time for the PV support group. The bad weather also felt like it started earlier this year, like April already.
Ok, enough of this thing of load shedding “Suspended” … what is this nonsense … Stage 4 is starting at 16h00 so nothing was suspended!!! We just are not on the schedule to be shedded till then. Geez, using words much!!!
Tuesday, 6 June
- Suspended: 08h00 to 16h00
- Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00
Suspended … my arse …
Does anyone else have an opinion on this break from LS actually being suspended, for wot, 2 days now?
Well this might me misplaced optimism. But I have the impression that some of the right things are being done at Eskom. Nearly everything ADR said is now being repeated by our new minister of Energy/Eskom. Except now its coming from an acceptable source. A few corrupt and sabotaging guys got arrested or might be laying low because they know they are being watched… even just that will make a big difference in a while.
Im not saying Eskom will get a lot better or get fixed. But maybe the slide is being slowed down.
I have a feeling you may be onto something … adding to that.
If you read AdeR’s book, it is mentioned there. He mentioned how one power station drastically improved their EAF, but then the power station manager started getting death threats because the “maintenance people” were not given a way to eat… I’m paraphrasing.
So absolutely yes, some of the right things are being done. But I’m sure plenty of the wrong things are also still being done. In any case, I don’t like to be one of those negative people who cannot accept a good thing when it happens… so I will profess my gratitude for being given somewhat of a reprieve, and hope and pray that the trend continues.
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This list should work in either direction - based on perspective it lists most to least likely explanations:
- The ANC told eskom to stop loadshedding.
- Loadshedding would almost have been eliminated by February 2023 but after that interview, the ANC told Eskom to keep escalating load shedding to not inadvertently make it look like AdR had done some things right.
- This is a dry run for if Putin were to come to South Africa so we don’t look too pitiful.
- Eskom decided to reduce the surplus safety margin from 2% to 1%.
- Eskom is running all power stations at 200% above design parameters.
- @plonkster stopped charging his EMW from the grid.
- @plonkster hacked V2G from his EMW.
- The unions received positive responses to all their demands.
- The union leaders received positive response to their secret alternative individual demands.
- Many South Africans again doing more than should be expected of them by trying to reduce their electricity consumption even further in the times they have it available.
- A bit of blind luck.
- Reduced planned maintenance during colder months meaning more units available to generate electricity.
- The work of the still many remaining loyal hardworking employees at Eskom and various strategies from management/executive level from before, and including AdR’s time at the helm, are bearing some fruit.
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Not to be negative like @plonkster wanted to be (seeing as he is the target for today) . … but it could also be a case of we are over the top, running downhill for a change … in a thick mist … joyful blissfully unaware of the ragged mountain we are rushing towards at full speed?
… “where have all the experts gone” who said it is so bad, that “winter is coming” … it feels way too eerily quiet …
… or is it indeed as the “@Village_Idiot” has “preached”? (sorry … just had to work that in somewhere. )
I sang that in the voice of Paula Cole.
There is a very good article about this sudden upswing on MoneyWeb
The reduction of partial load losses and the non-existence of the summer heat in Mpumalanga means the output from the plants is generally ahead of what would be experienced in the hotter months. Basically, fears of Stage 8 (or worse) are probably overblown. For now, at least.
Data from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) over last seven years illustrates this brilliantly.
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This teen titbit … goes back to what @Village_Idiot alluded too …
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However, this “is not privatisation as policy”. Roodt said the state is collapsing, and the private sector is merely taking over state functions.
The privatisation process will continue, but he warns that it will take 18 to 24 months before significant changes will be seen.
In the long term, electricity generation will be private, with Eskom merely distributing electricity and the utility being relegated to buying electricity from other entities and selling it on, said Roodt.
This is echoed by other commentators such as Kokkie Kooyman, a finance sector expert at Denker Capital, who called the ANC policy “privatisation by stealth”.
Oh, it is easy enough. You just stop doing it. When someone else takes over, you declare that it is no longer your job, since they have taken over. You still pay yourself for providing the service of course.
City of Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced that fifteen companies — including Amazon — will soon begin wheeling their self-generated electricity through the metro’s grid.
The city’s mayoral committee has greenlit the authorization, with the City Council expected to give final approval later in June.
Electricity wheeling is a mechanism that lets consumers, primarily businesses, buy power from each other using existing grid infrastructure.
Its primary benefit is enabling the use of electricity generated in a location far away from the consumer, including from solar and wind sources that might have a lower cost than the main supplier’s electricity.
It can also be implemented faster than on-site generation, as it bypasses the need to get new permits and perform environmental impact studies.
In 2022, Cape Town invited applications to participate in a wheeling pilot. The fifteen approved participants represent 25 generators and 40 customers.
As part of the programme, electricity will be wheeled over the Cape Town municipal and Eskom distribution networks.
Cape Town said the first wheeled electron is expected to flow between the pilot project participants in July 2023.
The city said wheeling was complex and required new skills, regulatory and policy changes, billing development and bilateral agreements.
This, together with the recent reduction of the monthly admin costs, are very promising steps.
I hope the CoCT succeeds, it would seem the authorities are committed.
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Running a city is BIG Business … CoCT wants the tourists and the big (Amazon level) international investments.
This new mayor, I cannot see how he will NOT succeed.
Daily Maverick
Thursday, 8 June 2023
WTF F#'*'K
This week we got a four-hour respite from power cuts at the weekend. It has been an easier week, with limited pain from Stage 6. The Outlier’s load shedding widget shows that we have had blackouts on 151 days of the 159 days of 2023.
We have a slightly different format for you this week. I have been watching what Operation Vulindlela has been doing in the Presidency.
Quietly, it’s unblocking significant energy reforms. This graphic is worth a read. Our hell has an end.
And the other big thing …
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has permanently withdrawn Eskom’s exemption from some aspects of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) that require the power utility to disclose irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in its annual report and financial statements.
Godongwana made the decision after concluding consultations with the Auditor-General and considering comments from the public, including submissions from the accounting and auditing profession.