Save power, watch cup games at a pub – Eskom

Watch the Fifa World Cup at a pub‚ family or a friend’s house to save power.

This was one of the powersaving tips Eskom recommended to customers yesterday.

“Watch at venues not on the day’s load-shedding schedule‚” an Eskom spokesman said.

It was also suggested users “think about your safety and communication by keeping your cellphone/laptop/tablet always fully charged when power is available and keep temporary lighting readily available”.

The power utility said the risk of load-shedding would remain high this coming week as the system remained constrained due to recent industrial action.

Eskom said the system had been boosted yesterday after several units came back online.

“We assure customers that all available emergency energy resources are used before load-shedding is implemented,” Eskom said.

Customers were advised to use electricity sparingly.

“Please switch off geysers during the day, especially during peak periods [7am to 10am and 6pm to 9pm] as well as all non-essential lighting and electricity appliances to assist in reducing demand,” Eskom said.

Wage negotiations between Eskom and unions deadlocked after unions demanded wage hikes of between 9% and 15%‚ with Eskom offering no increase.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Friday that a wage freeze was no longer an option.