Eskom has declared the Eastern Cape the seventh province to be removed from load reduction schedules, saying progress on its turnaround plan has pushed the national Energy Availability Factor (EAF) to 67.55% — the strongest financial year-to-date performance in six years.
What Eskom reported
The parastatal said on 14 August 2026 that its year-to-date EAF for the financial year (1 April to 13 August 2026) improved to 67.55%, up from 60.2% over the same period last year — a rise of 7.35 percentage points. Eskom described this as the highest EAF achieved since 25 October 2020 and attributed the improvement to sustained operational and structural interventions across its generation fleet.
As a result of improved capacity and fewer unplanned outages, Eskom said approximately 1.2 million customers — representing 71% of the 1.69 million customers originally placed on load reduction schedules — have been removed. The share of Eskom customers affected by load reduction has fallen from a peak of 23.5% to about 6.8%.
Local impact in the Eastern Cape
For the Eastern Cape, removal from the load reduction schedule means businesses, municipal services and households across the province should no longer face scheduled supply interruptions imposed by Eskom. The utility said the Eastern Cape is the seventh province to reach this status, a milestone it says surpasses its own October 2026 target for the Load Reduction Eradication Programme.
While Eskom said targeted interventions continue in remaining affected areas, notably in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the statement also noted efforts to restore supply where severe weather damaged infrastructure in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Free State. Restoration work is under way where conditions are safe and access is possible.
- EAF (year-to-date): 67.55% (1 April–13 August 2026)
- Improvement from same period last year: +7.35 percentage points
- Customers removed from load reduction: ~1.2 million (71% of 1.69 million)
- Customers still affected: ~6.8% of Eskom’s customer base
Numbers at a glance
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Year-to-date EAF (1 Apr–13 Aug 2026) | 67.55% |
| EAF same period last year | 60.20% |
| Customers originally on load reduction | 1.69 million |
| Customers removed from schedules | ~1.2 million (71%) |
| Customers still impacted | ~6.8% |
Eskom said unplanned outages have been nearly halved year-on-year, a factor that contributed to the improved EAF and reduced need for load reduction. The utility also reiterated its aim to eliminate load reduction nationwide by 2027, saying it remains on track.
What this means for residents and businesses
For households and firms in Gqeberha and across the province, the removal from scheduled load reduction should lower the risk of planned supply interruptions that have affected production, schooling and municipal services in recent years. However, Eskom cautioned that weather-related damage in some areas has hindered restoration work and that teams are being mobilised where it is safe to do so.
Provincial planners and municipal engineers will need to continue coordinating with Eskom to ensure local network faults and weather damage are repaired promptly. The utility’s statement implies continued targeted work in remaining pressure points nationally, which could still affect areas outside the Eastern Cape until the nationwide programme is complete.
While Eskom credits operational and financial measures for the improvement, the utility faces the challenge of sustaining this performance through winter and beyond, and of completing repairs to infrastructure damaged by recent storms.
Officials and residents in the Eastern Cape will be watching whether the removal from schedules translates into uninterrupted supply in practice, particularly in rural and previously hard-hit municipal supply areas where network faults and weather damage have been common.
