Frankie
08-04-2008, 01:07 PM
Could you imagine how p1ssed you'll be after 6 years of load shedding!
And no, the fat cats wont be fired, and yes they'll get their BIG bonuses.
No mention of our neighbours that enjoy cheaper power without the load shedding.
No mention of employing competent staff without colour considerations/restrictions.
Blowing smoke!
Power cuts are here for the next six years. But what's being done to solve the problem?
http://www.women24.com/Women24/Wellness/Green/Article/0,,1-4-1043_18435,00.html
Power cuts will be a fact of life for the next six years, but here's what's being done to solve the problem.
This month, the national power conservation programme, a collaborative effort to counter our power shortage, comes into force. It draws on World Bank research that worked when Brazil had a similar energy crisis in 2001.
So what’s the plan?
The programme aims to reduce overall demand for electricity by 10–15% by means of:
# Sector-specific quotas. Proposed savings targets are 5% (agriculture); 10% (industrial and residential) and 15% (large office buildings, government, municipal and electricity utility offices). Essential services like hospitals and security installations are excluded.
# The quotas, still to be finalised, will be implemented in tandem with penalties for those who over-use.
# Incentives will encourage smaller users to exceed their savings targets.
# There will be a system of trading unused quotas (where larger users can ‘trade’ unused portions of their quotas with each other).
Okay, but what are Eskom and the government doing?
Eskom is investing a whopping R300 billion on new power plants over the next five years and, in his budget speech, trevor manuel set aside another R60 billion. They’re also tasked with sourcing more and better quality coal; older plants are to be ‘de-mothballed’ (although additional capacity will only be available from 2012), and discussions have intensified over the site of a second nuclear plant.
How does this affect me?
Well, firstly, electricity costs will rise by about 14,2% (excluding the new electricity levy) from 1 April, and some economists expect them to rise every year from now on. Then there’ll be a nationwide roll-out of compact fluorescent lamps (CLF’s), backed up by a restriction on the production of incandescent light bulbs.
CLF’s are more expensive, but you can expect to make back your investment in about 10 months. There will be a 20–30% subsidy, through registered installation companies (a full list is available on www.eskom.co.za), on the installation of solar water heating. Once it’s installed (priced between R7 000 and R20 000), your hot water comes free of charge. The DTI has also requested that the hospitality industry convert all water heating to solar power.
Smart metering for residential customers will allow Eskom or the municipality to switch off power in localised areas where the load is too high – to encourage the use of geysers, washing machines, tumble dryers, pool pumps and other appliances during off-peak times only. Also, government encourages fuel switching from electricity to LP gas as a domestic energy source.
What about poor households?
These will be supplied with free energy-efficient bulbs until 2015 (the South African National Defence force has pledged to assist by escorting the teams replacing the bulbs), and the solar heating roll-out will be free for them, too.
And cleaner energy?
The crisis "can also be seen as an opportunity to shift to a more long-term sustainable approach", says Earthlife Africa. They suggest tax deductions for those who implement energy-efficient measures, a fast-tracked training programme in efficient energy in all relevant sectors, and negotiations between energy-intensive users and renewable energy providers for localized power stations that will provide solar, wave and wind power. Another suggestion is for Eskom to pay feed-in tariffs (fits) to producers of renewable energy to capture and re-route it. But industry has yet to get excited about it: according to the Mail & Guardian, players in the renewable energy industry have accused Eskom of offering electricity at half the cost that they do.
Still, the DPE has since reaffirmed its commitment to renewable energy projects, and plans are in place to install solar-powered cells to power traffic lights and public lighting.
And no, the fat cats wont be fired, and yes they'll get their BIG bonuses.
No mention of our neighbours that enjoy cheaper power without the load shedding.
No mention of employing competent staff without colour considerations/restrictions.
Blowing smoke!
Power cuts are here for the next six years. But what's being done to solve the problem?
http://www.women24.com/Women24/Wellness/Green/Article/0,,1-4-1043_18435,00.html
Power cuts will be a fact of life for the next six years, but here's what's being done to solve the problem.
This month, the national power conservation programme, a collaborative effort to counter our power shortage, comes into force. It draws on World Bank research that worked when Brazil had a similar energy crisis in 2001.
So what’s the plan?
The programme aims to reduce overall demand for electricity by 10–15% by means of:
# Sector-specific quotas. Proposed savings targets are 5% (agriculture); 10% (industrial and residential) and 15% (large office buildings, government, municipal and electricity utility offices). Essential services like hospitals and security installations are excluded.
# The quotas, still to be finalised, will be implemented in tandem with penalties for those who over-use.
# Incentives will encourage smaller users to exceed their savings targets.
# There will be a system of trading unused quotas (where larger users can ‘trade’ unused portions of their quotas with each other).
Okay, but what are Eskom and the government doing?
Eskom is investing a whopping R300 billion on new power plants over the next five years and, in his budget speech, trevor manuel set aside another R60 billion. They’re also tasked with sourcing more and better quality coal; older plants are to be ‘de-mothballed’ (although additional capacity will only be available from 2012), and discussions have intensified over the site of a second nuclear plant.
How does this affect me?
Well, firstly, electricity costs will rise by about 14,2% (excluding the new electricity levy) from 1 April, and some economists expect them to rise every year from now on. Then there’ll be a nationwide roll-out of compact fluorescent lamps (CLF’s), backed up by a restriction on the production of incandescent light bulbs.
CLF’s are more expensive, but you can expect to make back your investment in about 10 months. There will be a 20–30% subsidy, through registered installation companies (a full list is available on www.eskom.co.za), on the installation of solar water heating. Once it’s installed (priced between R7 000 and R20 000), your hot water comes free of charge. The DTI has also requested that the hospitality industry convert all water heating to solar power.
Smart metering for residential customers will allow Eskom or the municipality to switch off power in localised areas where the load is too high – to encourage the use of geysers, washing machines, tumble dryers, pool pumps and other appliances during off-peak times only. Also, government encourages fuel switching from electricity to LP gas as a domestic energy source.
What about poor households?
These will be supplied with free energy-efficient bulbs until 2015 (the South African National Defence force has pledged to assist by escorting the teams replacing the bulbs), and the solar heating roll-out will be free for them, too.
And cleaner energy?
The crisis "can also be seen as an opportunity to shift to a more long-term sustainable approach", says Earthlife Africa. They suggest tax deductions for those who implement energy-efficient measures, a fast-tracked training programme in efficient energy in all relevant sectors, and negotiations between energy-intensive users and renewable energy providers for localized power stations that will provide solar, wave and wind power. Another suggestion is for Eskom to pay feed-in tariffs (fits) to producers of renewable energy to capture and re-route it. But industry has yet to get excited about it: according to the Mail & Guardian, players in the renewable energy industry have accused Eskom of offering electricity at half the cost that they do.
Still, the DPE has since reaffirmed its commitment to renewable energy projects, and plans are in place to install solar-powered cells to power traffic lights and public lighting.