By Christina Taylor
The government is to spend a day in November going door-to-door countrywide handing out 10 million low-energy fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) to cut down on electricity usage.
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka this week announced the intention to dedicate a day in November to exchanging incandescent light bulbs for CFLs.
The exchange is to be managed by Eskom, which is running a door-to-door campaign so homeowners can switch to CFLs at no cost, according to Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger.
Also, Eskom is partnering Game stores in offering CFLs for R5 apiece when customers bring in incandescent bulbs.
CFLs are more energy-efficient and longer-lasting and therefore cheaper in the long run.
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Eskom has installed more than 22 million CFLs since beginning its programme, with a power saving of 500 Megawatts, Etzinger says.
About 7.2 million of those bulbs were from the Western Cape alone, for a saving of 312MW. The additional exchanged bulbs are expected to save 420MW.
Mlambo-Ngcuka's announcement followed a meeting with a coalition of labour, government, business and community representatives on energy efficiency.
The government has set a goal of saving 3 000MW, or 10 percent of electricity demand. South Africans are saving only 3 percent.
"South Africans do not realise that we are not out of the woods yet insofar as the electricity crisis is concerned," Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
"Unless we save energy, we run the risk of experiencing a situation not dissimilar to the one we were confronted with last summer."
christina.taylor@inl.co.za
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This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on September 19, 2008
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