Boksburg — The current power crisis and outages are not affecting major construction in Gauteng, says Gauteng MEC for Local Government, Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu.

Ms Mahlangu was speaking at an Energy Conservation and Production conference initiated by the Institute for International Research (IRR's) in Boksburg on Monday.

"I have never received information that a particular construction has been delayed by a power cut. All major constructions including the Gautrain are running full steam in our province," she said.

According to the MEC, the Gauteng Provincial Government is deeply concerned about the current energy crisis and are willing to work with different stakeholders to find a solution.

She said while Gauteng was the country's economic hub, there was a need for multi-stakeholder involvement in finding a solution to stop load-shedding.

"We are more than willing to deeply engage with all stakeholders and interested individuals in finding a lasting solution about the energy crisis," she said.

MEC Mahlangu said some of the immediate interventions included:

•  government and private sector to reduce electricity consumption at night;

•  installation of energy saving bulbs in all households and

•  encouraging communities to use gas for cooking and heating.

Ms Mahlangu said the medium term intervention should include the installation of management devices on appliances such as geysers.

"These should also include energy efficient lighting in all government buildings and solar powered traffic lights."

Representing the Department of Minerals and Energy, Matthews Bantsijang said Eskom both the government and Eskom have acknowledged their mistakes, and are working hard to bring South Africa's electricity supply and distribution system back into balance.

"In January 2008, the Department of Minerals and Energy and Eskom released a new policy document 'National response to South Africa's electricity shortage'," he said.

According to Mr Bantsijang, the plan included work on the country's electricity distribution structure, and the fast-tracking of electricity projects by independent power producers.

At the same time, he said the new plan outlined the importance of reducing demand by pricing electricity correctly as well as promoting energy efficiency and deterring, and if necessary outlawing, energy inefficiency.

Mr Bantsijang said South Africa had emerged as a world leader in the development of innovative prepayment systems, with millions of prepayment meters installed across all socio-economic levels.

"Prepayment continues to revolutionise electricity industry' ability to collect revenue and although it remains controversial, markets worldwide are showing increased interest in the technology," he said.

He described the conference as a unique platform for electricity experts to meet, exchange ideas, create new business opportunities, evaluate new prepayment technologies and position them to make the right revenue management decisions.

Presenters at the conference are discussing various ways of saving energy and new mechanism that can put in place to generate more power and save the province from load-shedding.

In an effort to further strengthen the National Campaign to save electricity by 10 percent, the department will also host a three-day Provincial Energy Efficiency Product and Energy Exhibition (ENERGEX) on 6 June 2008.

It is hoped that the Expo will bring together a range of products that households, business, institutions and the general public can use in order to contribute to the national energy saving campaigns.