Eskom’s Load Shedding Will Cost Western Cape Economy R150 Million Per Day

Eskom’s stage 2 load shedding will cost the Western Cape economy R150 million per day, according to WC Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier.

The fact is that the load shedding announced by Eskom today will damage the economy in the Western Cape, he said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The impact of load shedding is currently estimated to be R75 million per stage, per day for the Western Cape,” Maynier announced, making it R150 million per day.

The Western Cape Government says it has taken a number of actions to mitigate the impact of load shedding on the provincial economy, and build energy resilience… but that the cost of load shedding remains high, particularly for manufacturing in the Western Cape.

“We also can’t ignore the impact of load shedding on households, small businesses and agriculture for example, which are forced to invest in alternative powers sources to build their resilience against energy failures.

“Furthermore, there is a large ‘uncounted cost’ of load shedding owing to the impact on market confidence,” he said.

The Western Cape Government says it has been building an “energy secure province” by diversifying its energy mix through the uptake of sustainable and low-carbon energy sources… such as installing electricity meters, targeted campaigns, and supporting the update of Solar photovoltaic (PV).

The Tourism Department has been working with Eskom, City of Cape Town, Wesgro and GreenCape to engage businesses with mitigation measures they can implement during loadshedding.

Maynier said he also looks forward to a positive outcome on the ongoing court action between the City of Cape Town against the Department of Energy to allow the City to buy power directly from Independent Power Providers.

DON’T MISS: 5 Great series to bingewatch during loadshedding in South Africa