A new South African word: Loadshedding

[Trevor]

 

Loadshedding????? 

This is a new South African word ~ we have a truly progressive nation but our major electricity supplier ESKOM (the Electricity Supply Commission) has, in the last few months, resorted to pulling the plug whenever it feels that the demand is too high.

The result? Chaos. Gridlocked traffic, businesses failing, hospitals in crisis....and, we are hosting the Soccer World Cup in two years.

ESKOM were warned in 1997 that there would be problems within ten years if provision was not made. Instead, those in charge mothballed many power stations, spent 48 million SA rand on arms instead and hoped that private investors would build new power stations.

And who (or more specifically what) do the powers that be blame instead of blaming themselves for lack of foresight?

That's right: apartheid. 

[Ash]

Hehe!
Loadshedding...sounds like a porn word.   

[Trevor]

 

My South African bretheren and sisteren say that "loadshedding" should actually be spelt "loadsh-@&--g" because of all the trouble it causes. 

And if you think that's bad, Ash: the ESKOM spokesman Speaks. As. Though. Every. Word. Is. It's. Own. Sentence. and enunciates almost every single letter in a word. You have no idea how irritating that can get.

These idiots can be found here: www.eskom.co.za 

[lester1/2jr]

how come no private investors have startewd power companies?

[ulthar]

how come no private investors have startewd power companies?

Just off the top of my head, I can speculate a number of answers to that.  And it's probably not too different from here in the US, actually.

(1) Capital outlay: it takes a WHOLE HEAP of money to build a power plant and the associated infrastructure involved in distributing that power to the grid.  That's not just actual construction costs, but engineering as well.  Design alone can take years - unless you want your new plant to bring down the entire grid due to some screw-up in the engineering.

(2) Many, many years before ROI - that's break-even.  You cannot spends hundreds of millions on a new plant and get your money back overnight.  From an investor standpoint, most investors don't want their money tied up for ten years before they get a return.

(3) Compliance with Government Regulations (environmental or otherwise).  Who needs the hassle?  Have you even tried to wade through the maze of dealing with the Feds on ANYTHING?  Beauracracy is a wonderful thing,   

(4) Psychology I: in this day and age, there just seems tob e the mindset - worldwide - that it is the role of government to "provide." Given the financials and beaureaucratic issues, I would not be surprised to find a lot of folks that actually HAVE the money saying "why bother, the gov't should be providing power anyway."  Whether this view is reality or not, it sure does seem to be prevalent.

(5) Psychology II: Everyone wants cheap power, but when it comes time to build a plant, a lot of communities say "not in my back yard."  This is especially true of nukes, butI think is general.  It's kinda like wanting cheap gas at the pump but being unwilling to fight a war for it or drill for it domestically.

Thanks for the heads-up, Trevor.  We face similar issues in the US due to aging plants and little/no new building to support growth in demand.

[Newt]

...And who (or more specifically what) do the powers that be blame instead of blaming themselves for lack of foresight?

That's right: apartheid. 

How do they figure that?

Thirty years ago...when I was in Uni...I attended a 'talk' presented by visiting members of the ANC.  (I was taking an anthropology course in "South African Social Systems" with a prof who was an ex-pat South African)  If I recall correctly: it seems that power stations were a target of choice?   Has nothing changed??  Or is this one more example of the powers-that-be living in the past?

[lester1/2jr]

ulthar-  I think the central problem is #4 on your list, but the others make it harder