NamPower to introduce load shedding for defaulting towns
NamPower has announced drastic measures, including load shedding, to collect more than N$1 billion in outstanding debt owed by local authorities. Should these emergency measures not be introduced, it will have a detrimental effect on NamPower’s duty to deliver power to the country on a sustainable basis, it said.NamPower will now, in an attempt to limit the continued increase in debt, start to suspend power supply to customers on 5 June, should their debts not be settled by then. This means debtors’ power will be suspended for a minimum of four hours per week. The number of powerless hours will increase in cases where there is no full payment in the pipeline, and can increase - during phase nine - to eight hours per day and 56 hours per week.
Debtors who are at risk of being in the literal dark within weeks include Brakwater and Groot Aub within the City of Windhoek’s borders, as well as Okahandja, Rehoboth, Mariental, Karasburg, Gobabis, Aranos, Maltahöhe, Lüderitz, Gibeon, Bethanie, Tses, Koës, Leonardville and Berseba. According to NamPower, this list may change as customers update their accounts.
Schedule
According to phase one of the load-shedding schedule, electricity will be off Mondays from 11:00 to 15:00 (four hours), while phase two will see Mondays and Tuesdays go without power from 11:00 to 15:00 (eight hours).
In phase three, electricity will be off from Monday to Wednesday between 11:00 and 15:00 (12 hours), while phase four will see this stretch from Monday to Thursday from 11:00 to 15:00 (16 hours). During phase five, electricity will be off from Monday to Friday between 11:00 and 15:00 (20 hours), and phase six and seven will see Saturday and Sunday added to the roster. Saturday’s time slots will be from 13:00 to 17:00, while residents will go without power on Sundays from 08:00 to 12:00 (24 hours). Phase eight is six hours without power each weekday, while phase nine includes eight powerless hours daily.
According to NamPower, phase one kicks off on a Monday, followed by the next phase each week should full payment not be received.
No interest
In an effort to encourage customers with outstanding debts to cough up, the power supplier has now announced an incentive measure in which it will write off the interest on the outstanding amount accumulated over the preceding 12 months.
This, however, only applies if the customer pays the outstanding amount in full on or before 31 May. This incentive is further limited to interest charged on the specific outstanding capital amount up to a maximum of 12 months.