Neighbourhood Power Watch

It usually takes bit of effort to convince overseas investors that South Africa has the infrastructure available to run successful global companies.

South Africans traveling to California often come back talking about how bad the roads are, how patchy cellphone reception is, and even about Palo Alto's 'bad' neighbourhoods. This is in stark contrast to what we expect.

Likewise, travelers to South Africa often expect dirt roads, animals in the streets and other popular notions picked up in Hollywood movies that feature Africa. They don't expect to find 6 lane highways without potholes, an advanced banking system and a highly skilled workforce that is spending much of its time proving that South African companies and educational institutions are on par, if not better, than the best in the world.

However, lately Cape Town and surrounds have suffered a severe electricity shortage. As a result Eskom, the national power company, has decided to implement 'rolling blackouts', in the form of two power cuts per neighbourhood per day, lasting for about 2-3 hours each. Once the power comes on in one, they'll switch off power to another neighbourhood or business district.

Apparently, Cape Town will need to cut down on its usage by about 25%. I've started switching off our geyser and taken care to ensure all screensavers in our office kick in after a minute.

Although some companies, such as Enablis, have switched off their airconditioning systems, one can also see empty skyscrapers at nights with lights burning on all floors, oblivious to the current power crisis. A few days ago I was at a house where the owner had 2 heated swimming pools running. (I did confront him about it, but that's another story...)

My solution is to have Cape Town neighbourhoods 'compete' for electricity. If a particular neighbourhood does manage to save 25% on a given day, that neighbourhood will not suffer a scheduled blackout the following day. This will empower communities to control the amount of power outages they suffer.

Imagine the embarrassment and irritation to have your neighbours phoning you up at 2 AM to remind you that they can hear your swimming pool filter is running!

Now, I know I have the new mayor's business card lying around here somewhere...