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Power cuts won't affect World Cup
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Moederloos
Honorary Master
Well, now I am reassured.
I hope he told FIFA that, too.
bekdik
Honorary Master
I agree that South African power cuts won't affect the World Cup. German power cuts will.
friedpiggy
Expert Member
ummm im just wondering. so the stadiums will be guaranteed power, great stuff the games will go on. what about the hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. ? are they gonna follow these busloads of tourists around with these grid generators?
just curious
just curious
LCBXX
Honorary Master
Since when can Mista Mike Stofile make statements on behalf of the DME?
P
Picard
Guest
Power outages will not affect the World Cup because Eskom won't cut power to all the cities that hosts matches. The rest of Saf Africa however will suffer.
Moederloos
Honorary Master
You assume too much.
Eskom was generating less power yesterday than on friday - by 1000MW.
At the rate of decline, there will be no power at all by June.
Lies are being told.
medicnick83
Paramedic
I bet, during the world cup, staduims that host the world cup will have power because the REST of the country will be load shedded 
So, if Cape Town and JHB have matches going, those 2 cities will have power, the rest will be in the dark.
So, if Cape Town and JHB have matches going, those 2 cities will have power, the rest will be in the dark.
What lies exactly? Are you saying there is no problem, that Eskom is cutting our power supply because of an alterior motive? Or are you saying the problem is worse than we are being told.
I love all the freaking doomsday predictions on this site. Everytime something goes wrong in this country people keep crying that the ship is sinking.
Well I've been listening to this crap since 1994 and yet here I am sitting in a building that far from being on the verge of collapse is beautifully maintained. The lights are on by the way. I am surfing the net...and granted it's on a sub-standard ADSL service, but that is hardly the point.
I believe and will continue to believe that this country will host a great 2010.
I wonder though, if all you naysayers turn out to be right, will it really make you happy? Is it going to please you to see our country sink into the morass-like state that is now Zimbabwe?
You don't ever hesitate to point out just how bad things are getting and never waiver in your duty to point out that they will get worse. What the heck are you all doing to improve the situation? How are you helping?
I am not denying our country's problems be crime, electricity shortage, corrupt politicians...whetever. But constantly yelling that sky is falling doesn't help anyone either.
Moederloos
Honorary Master
And neither does living in a dream world like the majority of our population.
This country is sinking into a morass.
And fast.
Agreed with Moederloos. That's like some pot-head sitting on table mountain, smoking a joint, saying, "bru, who needs lights and electricity. If I eat more of these cookies, I'll be able to see in the dark, and if i get stuck in the traffic, I'll just get out of my car and fly."
yup, the few that actually do something don't really count.
of course the city hosting the game will have power and the rest will not.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Slightly off-topic, but still relevant to the whole Eskom saga...
has anyone begun to consider or even measure (I don't know how you would measure this) the "positive" effects that this power shortage might have?
1) Entrepreneurs jumping onto the band wagon with all kinds of power-saving and backup devices. Foreign suppliers see the need in South Africa and come running to provide us with power at a premium (at this stage even the Chinese would be welcome to come in and do something). The government foots the bill because it was their clock-up to start with, so the cost burden on the consumers is hopefully lessened.
2) Eskom having to actually fix and maintain their existing grid so that it can effeciently supply what electricity is actually available. New technicians are trained. Old experts are re-hired to do the training and maintenance. More older power plants are brought out of moth-balling and brought back online (perhaps even some of the old municipal and City Power plants).
3) New relationships and supply contracts with neighboring countries (eg. buying more power from Moz. as it becomes available). The possibility of Africa's electricity grid growing larger as Southern Africa hooks up into the Northern Power grid.
4) Electricians getting a huge increase in orders and jobs installing all these new switches, timers and power saving devices. The cost of these electronic devices and power-saving models comes down as competition increases.
5) An actual decrease in the cost of alternative energy sources (as many solar panel suppliers rush to market, eventually the price normalises at a reasonable level).
6) Gas industry flourishes, more people switch to gas for home, heating, cooking and even lighting. (Assuming a constant supply of Gas)
7) The country actually becoming more "green" and environment friendly as these alternative energy sources kick in, the number of installed solar panels and wind farms increases.
8) Eskom is eventually broken up into smaller companies and real competition ensues.
9) The ANC government takes years of flak for their failure in this all-important area of governance and the opposition parties increase in strength as they play a major role in leadership during this period. Eventually the ANC's stranglehold is gone.
Can anyone else think of any other positive possibilities for our future?
(I know I am being hopelessly optimistic here... but what the hell, it's nice to dream)
has anyone begun to consider or even measure (I don't know how you would measure this) the "positive" effects that this power shortage might have?
1) Entrepreneurs jumping onto the band wagon with all kinds of power-saving and backup devices. Foreign suppliers see the need in South Africa and come running to provide us with power at a premium (at this stage even the Chinese would be welcome to come in and do something). The government foots the bill because it was their clock-up to start with, so the cost burden on the consumers is hopefully lessened.
2) Eskom having to actually fix and maintain their existing grid so that it can effeciently supply what electricity is actually available. New technicians are trained. Old experts are re-hired to do the training and maintenance. More older power plants are brought out of moth-balling and brought back online (perhaps even some of the old municipal and City Power plants).
3) New relationships and supply contracts with neighboring countries (eg. buying more power from Moz. as it becomes available). The possibility of Africa's electricity grid growing larger as Southern Africa hooks up into the Northern Power grid.
4) Electricians getting a huge increase in orders and jobs installing all these new switches, timers and power saving devices. The cost of these electronic devices and power-saving models comes down as competition increases.
5) An actual decrease in the cost of alternative energy sources (as many solar panel suppliers rush to market, eventually the price normalises at a reasonable level).
6) Gas industry flourishes, more people switch to gas for home, heating, cooking and even lighting. (Assuming a constant supply of Gas)
7) The country actually becoming more "green" and environment friendly as these alternative energy sources kick in, the number of installed solar panels and wind farms increases.
8) Eskom is eventually broken up into smaller companies and real competition ensues.
9) The ANC government takes years of flak for their failure in this all-important area of governance and the opposition parties increase in strength as they play a major role in leadership during this period. Eventually the ANC's stranglehold is gone.
Can anyone else think of any other positive possibilities for our future?
(I know I am being hopelessly optimistic here... but what the hell, it's nice to dream)
On point 8. That will likely turn to a negative as the very reason why there is no competition is that prices are artificially low so private entities see no profit incentive in being involved in the electricty field in South Africa.
Slinky511nx7
Well-Known Member
The power cuts SHOULD affect the world cup, the power to the stadiums should be cut and broadcasting should stop so that the rest of the world can see whats going on here.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Slightly off-topic, but still relevant to the whole Eskom saga...
has anyone begun to consider or even measure (I don't know how you would measure this) the "positive" effects that this power shortage might have?
Can anyone else think of any other positive possibilities for our future?
(I know I am being hopelessly optimistic here... but what the hell, it's nice to dream)
Good for you, but for the rest of us who are more realistic, we have every right to be negative, irrtitated, angry, etc. etc. etc.
We're losing money and being inconvenienced in so many ways.
The potential positives are small compared to actual negatives.
:-D
This isn't positive; Google "broken window fallacy".
If there were cheaper/easier/quicker energy sources available, they'd already have been taking over the market from coal. This might spur a little innovation, but that takes years - it's not as if half the world isn't already desperately pushing for cheaper etc. energy than coal.
Best-case scenario, this spurs South African entrepreneurs / scientists to develop the world's 'next big thing' in energy, say a major solar breakthrough, and we patent it and the country becomes the world leader in providing that - very unlikely though, most the research is happening elsewhere.
So "taxpayer foots the bill" is better? The government can't "foot the bill" for anything, because all its money comes from you and me - same difference, either we lose, or we lose, pick one.
This isn't a net gain, it would merely be a restoration of the 'normal' level that things should've been, but at far greater cost.
Good for Mozambique, yes, in the long term. Heck, maybe in the not too distant future we can become a fully services and manufacturing based economy and import all our basics like electricity and food and raw materials - that seems to be the way things are going. None of this is overall "good" though, it's still a net loss.
The short/medium term effect will be an INCREASE in prices - simple supply/demand, demand is spiking but on the same supply (and it takes years to e.g. build a new solar panel manufacturing plant). Long-term competition will generally only normalise prices back to what they were (except for e.g. technology improvements). It's a loss all round though, unless you're an electrician (still bad for everyone - society's net wealth decreases - ref. broken window fallacy).
Costs will *increase* - same supply/demand story - nobody lowers their prices if demand spikes, especially when global demand is already higher than supply (e.g. solar).
It's not a net good for a more expensive and inefficient industry to flourish over a cheaper one. If gas was better we'd already all be using it. More expensive industries function as a drag on the economy, killing jobs and lowering everyone's aggregate wealth.
OK, granted, that is possible. Very costly, but possible.
By which government again?
Hmm .. maybe, yes, although not very likely.
Sure, it's good to try focus on the positive side, we should definitely try "make lemonade" but let's face it this is a massive lemon. There is nothing positive about it.(I know I am being hopelessly optimistic here... but what the hell, it's nice to dream)