Key takeaways:
- Eskom has removed roughly 1.1 million customers from load reduction schedules
- The utility says load reduction has now been fully eliminated in five provinces
- South Africa has gone 413 consecutive days without national load shedding since May 16, 2025
Eskom has removed more than one million customers from load reduction schedules as it works toward eliminating the measure nationwide by 2027.
The state power utility said in a statement on July 3 that approximately 1,099,430 customers have been taken off load reduction, representing 65% of the 1.69 million customers targeted under the programme.
Load reduction has now been fully eliminated in five provinces, and Eskom said it remains on track to reach seven provinces by October this year.
The utility attributed the progress to its Generation Recovery Plan.
“Continued improvements in generation performance under the Generation Recovery Plan, including increased generation availability, reduced unplanned outages and enhanced operational reliability, are enabling the utility to consistently meet demand while maintaining sufficient reserves and operational flexibility,” Eskom said.
Limpopo and Mpumalanga have seen the largest share of customers freed from load reduction, accounting for 608,099 customers combined. Gauteng follows with 268,902 customers removed, while KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State account for 160,916, the Eastern and Western Cape for 16,080, and the North West and Northern Cape for 45,433.
Smart meters and network upgrades drive the rollout
In addition, Eskom said the rollout of smart meters, network upgrades and efforts to curb illegal connections and electricity theft are central to eliminating load reduction.
The utility has deployed 1,861,180 smart meters nationwide, with 472,100 installed on load reduction feeders, representing about 25% of installations in high-priority areas. Roughly 93% of those installations are concentrated in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, where network pressure is highest.
The utility also reported that 544 of the 971 feeders targeted under the programme have been removed from load reduction, more than half of the total.
Eskom said load reduction remains distinct from load shedding, since it is applied in localized, high-risk areas to address safety concerns from illegal connections and meter tampering rather than a shortfall in generation capacity.
Record run without load shedding continues
The load reduction progress comes as South Africa marks 413 consecutive days without national load shedding, dating back to May 16, 2025.
Eskom said supply interruptions during the past financial year were limited to 26 hours across four days in April and May 2025.
The utility’s operational turnaround has also shown up in its fuel costs. Eskom’s diesel spending fell more than 85% in the first two and a half months of the current financial year, dropping to R640.27 million ($41.6 million) between April 1 and June 18, compared with R4.515 billion ($293.6 million) during the same period last year.
Eskom attributed the decline to improved power station performance, fewer unplanned outages and greater electricity availability across its generation fleet.
Despite the broader improvement, some areas continue to face scheduled outages this week as the load reduction phase-out continues.
Gauteng residents in several blocks, including parts of Soweto, Orange Farm, Vosloorus and Diepsloot, remain on rotating load reduction schedules while network upgrades in those areas proceed.
