Time for blame-game over, energy crisis needs collective action now

Large metros have to be key drivers in the quest to find urgent solutions to the energy crisis.

The City of Cape Town, which is the fastest growing metro in the country, urges other metros to join us and to actively participate in constructive responses to mitigate the impact of the electricity supply shortage on the commercial sector.

Metros are the growth engines of the country and the full effect on business operations, investment and job creation in South Africa is yet to be felt.

The lack of national leadership on this disaster, which is set to continue in the years to come and which indicates that we are a country in crisis, simply cannot be tolerated, nor afforded.

Economist, Mr Mike Schussler, has given a conservative estimate that it's costing business about R6 billion per month for Stage 1 load shedding, R12 billion per month for Stage 2 load shedding, and R24 billion per month for Stage 3 load shedding.

Given that Cape Town's output is approximately 11% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and we are mostly affected by Stage 1 and 2  load shedding, Cape Town is probably losing more than R1 billion per month. These estimates comprise the damage caused as a result of no supply and they exclude the long-term cost of job losses, stunted economic growth, and the drop in investor confidence.

We have already signalled our intent that, as the second largest metro in the country, we intend taking back our power. With our partners in the Western Cape Government, Eskom and in the private sector, we must change the energy regime in Cape Town.

Our proposals were discussed during a meeting of the Energy Efficiency Forum yesterday, 10 March 2015.

This forum has been helping the commercial sector since it was launched in 2009 by the City, in partnership with Eskom and the South African Property Owner's Association. It is co-funded by Old Mutual, and supported by several other organisations.

We are acutely aware that load shedding is affecting business profoundly. We are committed to working together with business on how to best manage the electricity crisis, and also on how to take advantage of the opportunities it presents.

We cannot play the blame-game anymore, nor can we bury our heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge the crisis that we are in.

We need to take collective action now.

There is no one solution to the energy crisis in South Africa, but we firmly believe that municipalities should be empowered and incentivised to play a far greater role in jointly pushing forward solutions to our national energy crisis.

As much as Eskom is tasked with resolving some very serious and long-standing problems in the energy sector, it is clear that they cannot do it alone and that other actors will have to be given the space to make meaningful contributions toward solving this crisis.

The City is looking at a range of options to minimise the impact of load shedding on our business sector. We are constantly evaluating our load shedding schedules according to the principles of equity and ensuring that the impacts on the productive sectors of our economy are minimised.

We are also looking at ways in which we can use our pumped-storage scheme at Steenbras Dam to lessen the impact of load shedding.

Cape Town is also one of the first cities to promote embedded generation and we are investigating ways in which this programme can be ramped up to bring more electrons on to the grid through renewable energy.     

The feasibility of implementing our own demand-response system, whereby businesses can be contracted to reduce demand immediately as opposed to having to implement load shedding, is currently being investigated.

Furthermore, we are engaging with both the National Government and Eskom to see how we can play a greater role in promoting solutions to our energy crisis, through measures such as greater energy efficiency and the roll-out of solar water heaters. The City has been driving a successful High-Pressure Solar Water Heater Programme in an attempt to reduce electricity demand in the peak times. For those with electric geysers (the largest consumer of residential electricity), switching to a solar water heater is the best way to reduce consumption and cost immediately.

But we have also been actively promoting energy savings across the spectrum of users: everyone can save energy and costs, not only the more affluent residents.

We are also stepping up our efforts to diversify our energy mix by, for instance, exploring options in terms of procuring power from independent power producers, particularly renewable energy and gas-fired turbines. This will, however, require the cooperation of National Government and we feel confident that we can find solutions that will also enable us to build more of a gas economy in Cape Town through fuel switching.

This would directly support the growth of larger-scale renewable energy resources in Cape Town and the Western Cape.  

We need to fundamentally change our view of how we use electricity and where it comes from. The City has been doing a lot of work in this regard and, with the support of our residents and other partners, we are ready to lead Cape Town into a new energy era.

Metros must become the energy champions of their residents and of their commercial sector players.

Opportunities to resolve the energy crisis are available. They require all spheres of government and State-owned enterprises to work together and to remove obstacles to implementation.

Our economy needs it. Our people need it. We must not, and cannot, fail them.

Statement issued by Alderman Ian Neilson, Executive Deputy Mayor, City of Cape Town, March 11 2015

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