Residents across Lenasia are facing continued electricity supply challenges as the city’s cold and wet weather places additional pressure on Johannesburg’s electricity network.
City Power reported on Monday afternoon, 10 August, that the Lenasia Service Delivery Centre (SDC) had 455 open electricity outage calls, the highest number recorded across the utility’s eight Service Delivery Centres.
The figure places Lenasia ahead of Hursthill, which had 445 open calls, followed by Randburg with 357, Reuven with 354, the Inner City with 343, Alexandra with 257, Roodepoort with 201 and Midrand with 38.
Across Johannesburg, City Power was dealing with 2,450 open outage calls by Monday afternoon. This was a reduction from the 2,585 calls recorded earlier in the morning, but the utility said the backlog remained exceptionally high as new faults continued to be reported.
City Power said its technical teams were working throughout the day to restore electricity and attend to outstanding faults. However, the number of calls remains fluid, with outages being resolved in some areas while new faults are reported elsewhere.
The situation comes as Johannesburg experiences a sharp drop in temperatures, with cold and wet conditions expected to continue during the week. The utility said increased household and business electricity consumption during the cold spell was placing additional pressure on the network.
Residents are expected to rely more heavily on heaters, geysers, stoves and other high-consumption appliances during the cold weather. When large numbers of customers increase their consumption at the same time, particularly during peak periods, the electricity network can become overloaded.
City Power warned that this can affect transformers, mini-substations, cables and other electricity infrastructure, with protection equipment sometimes tripping to prevent more extensive damage.
Wet conditions complicate repairs
For residents waiting for electricity to be restored, the wet weather is adding another challenge.
City Power said some faults, particularly underground cable faults, require technicians to locate the fault before excavation and trenching can take place. Waterlogged ground can make this work unsafe or impractical, while open trenches can accumulate water and create additional risks.
The utility said teams may therefore need to wait for conditions to improve or introduce additional safety measures before excavation and cable repairs can proceed. This could extend restoration times for some outages.
City Power also stressed that not every outage is directly related to the cold weather or increased electricity demand. Its teams are simultaneously dealing with cable faults, equipment failures, infrastructure theft, vandalism and other technical problems.
However, the combination of increased electricity consumption and difficult wet-weather working conditions is adding further pressure to an already constrained network.
Residents urged to reduce consumption
With Lenasia currently recording the highest number of open calls, City Power is appealing to residents and businesses to help reduce pressure on the network by cutting unnecessary electricity consumption.
Residents are particularly urged to reduce their electricity usage during the morning peak between 05h00 and 09h00 and the evening peak between 17h00 and 21h00.
City Power recommends staggering the use of high-energy appliances such as heaters, geysers, stoves and kettles instead of using several at the same time. Unnecessary lights and appliances should also be switched off.
Residents experiencing an outage are further advised to unplug appliances while the power is off. Once electricity is restored, appliances should be switched on gradually to avoid a sudden surge in demand that could cause the network to trip again.
City Power said it would continue monitoring electricity demand and network performance while its operational teams work to reduce the backlog and attend to new faults.
For electricity outage updates and enquiries, residents can contact the City Power Call Centre on 011 490 7484 or 0800 202 925 (toll-free).
