Power outages, job losses and price increases

28 May 2012

An electricity pylon. Photo courtesy of The Wirral Bells
South Africa is facing a constant challenge to ensure that power supply keeps up with the growing demands of our economy and society. Electricity theft further complicates the situation. It makes it difficult for Eskom and municipalities to balance demand and supply, because one cannot estimate the demand that will come from illegal power consumption. This destabilises the entire national network and can contribute to power outages.

Power outages are more than an inconvenience. They threaten businesses, big and small, and can lead to job losses at a time when we should be safeguarding each and every job in our country.
 
Electricity theft can also contribute to price increases. Like any business, Eskom has to recover losses from theft. So, when Eskom submits proposals for price increases to the National Energy Regulator (NERSA), part of these proposals provide for the partial recovery of losses suffered as a result of electricity theft.
 
In one way or another, we all therefore end up paying for electricity theft.
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