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发帖数: 4013 | 1 South Africans can empathize with Californians enduring power outages
instituted by bankrupt utility PG&E Corp. to prevent strong winds from
knocking down electrical lines and igniting fires.
Africa’s most industrialized nation has been contending with electricity
shortages since late 2005, as a result of state-owned utility Eskom Holdings
SOC Ltd.’s failure to invest in additional generation capacity.
Almost the entire population of 58.8 million has been affected by
intermittent rolling blackouts -- which all too often come without warning -
- and the resultant traffic jams and business interruptions that dent the
economy. The outages in the U.S. may eventually affect more than 3 million
people.
While Eskom, which supplies about 95% of the nation’s power, has managed to
keep the lights on since March when there were 10 consecutive days of
outages, the utility has warned that the system will remain vulnerable for
another two years. The problem is particularly acute during the summer
months, when most plant maintenance occurs.
Like PG&E, Eskom is in dire financial straits -- it’s not generating enough
cash to pay its bills and is reliant on state bailouts to remain solvent.
Most of its power stations are old and been poorly maintained, and two new
ones are riddled with defects. |
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