Eskom deceiving the public about load-shedding – Ted Blom
Energy advisor Ted Blom has accused Eskom of under-reporting the extent of load-shedding it is implementing across South Africa.
Energy expert Chris Yelland has also previously highlighted that Eskom is shedding more power than the reported stage.
However, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha has denied accusations that Eskom is deliberately deceiving the public on which load-shedding stages it is implementing.
It is important to look at Eskom’s load-shedding stage definitions to understand Blom and Yelland’s concerns.
Eskom explains the different load-shedding stages on its website. Here are the load-shedding definitions for Stage 1 to Stage 8.
- Stage 1 allows for up to 1,000MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 2 allows for up to 2,000MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 3 allows for up to 3,000MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 4 allows for up to 4,000MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 5 allows for up to 5,000MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 6 allows for up to 6,000MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 7 allows for up to 7,000MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 8 allows for up to 8,000MW of the national load to be shed.
Mantshantsha provides daily updates on Eskom’s available generation capacity, the total electricity demand, and the amount of load-shedding.
For example, on Sunday, Eskom had 26,044MW of availability, demand was at 27,227MW, and it implemented 2,775MW of load-shedding.
Eskom announced that it was implementing stage 3 load-shedding, and the 2,775MW was indeed within the stage 3 definition of up to 3,000MW of load which was shed.
However, on some days, Eskom’s load-shedding exceeds the definition of the stage that it announced.
For example, on 30 June, Eskom shed 6,609MW of electricity but only announced stage 6 load-shedding.
Yelland highlighted that stage 6 load-shedding only allows up to 6,000MW to be shed, and Eskom implemented stage 7 load-shedding.
Blom also highlighted that Eskom often exceeded its load-shedding stage over the last month when South Africa experienced the worst load-shedding in history.
Load-shedding numbers
Daily Investor analysed Eskom’s load-shedding numbers over the last month, substantiating Blom and Yelland’s claims.
The table below shows the load shed and the load-shedding stage that Eskom announced. We highlighted the questionable figures in red.
| Date | Load-shedding | Eskom Stage Announced | Stage Definition | Difference |
| 02-Oct-22 | 2,775MW | 3 | 3 | No |
| 01-Oct-22 | 2,860MW | 3 | 3 | No |
| 30-Sep-22 | 4,785MW | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 29-Sep-22 | 5,125MW | 4 | 6 | Yes |
| 28-Sep-22 | 4,552MW | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 27-Sep-22 | 4,454MW | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 26-Sep-22 | 4,383MW | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 25-Sep-22 | 2,624MW | 3 | 3 | No |
| 24-Sep-22 | 3,481MW | 4 | 4 | No |
| 23-Sep-22 | 4,683MW | 5 | 5 | No |
| 22-Sep-22 | 5,338MW | 5 | 6 | Yes |
| 21-Sep-22 | 5,620MW | 5 | 6 | Yes |
| 20-Sep-22 | 5,521MW | 5 | 6 | Yes |
| 19-Sep-22 | 6,770MW | 6 | 7 | Yes |
| 18-Sep-22 | 5,715MW | 6 | 6 | No |
| 17-Sep-22 | 4,140MW | 5 | 5 | No |
| 16-Sep-22 | 3,714MW | 4 | 4 | No |
| 15-Sep-22 | 4,139MW | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 14-Sep-22 | 4,642MW | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 13-Sep-22 | 4,530MW | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 12-Sep-22 | 3,002MW | 3 | 4 | Yes |
| 11-Sep-22 | 3,546MW | 4 | 4 | No |
| 10-Sep-22 | 3,782MW | 4 | 4 | No |
| 09-Sep-22 | 2,859MW | 3 | 3 | No |
| 08-Sep-22 | 1,785MW | 2 | 2 | No |
| 07-Sep-22 | 2,048MW | 2 | 3 | Yes |
| 06-Sep-22 | 2,050MW | 2 | 3 | Yes |
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