ZESCO says it has been compelled to reduce generation at its major power stations resulting in a national capacity deficit of 560 Megawatts.
In a statement, ZESCO says the reduction in generation has been necessitated by the low water levels in its reservoirs as a result of the poor rainfall experienced during the 2014/2015 rain season.
This therefore means that load shedding will be carried out on a rotational basis throughout the day, every day, in different areas.
ZESCO says this exercise will affect all its customers.
To mitigate this deficit, ZESCO says it is making every effort to try and secure some imports from the region.
However due to the limited availability of power in the whole region, there may be times when we will not be able to secure imports to cushion the impact of load shedding.
ZESCO is therefore appealing to its customers to join the campaign to save power by using electricity as efficiently as possible and help reduce the impact of load shedding by turning off all non-essential appliances.
The load shedding schedules will be circulated through the print media and the ZESCO website.
ZESCO sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused.
Awe mwachila ba ZESCO it is only happening now. When ba tata ba Sata was alive we have no load shedding. Please do something.
Ever going backward?? in these modern times you mean Zesco would not have alternative power plants?? This Country has Stupid leaders, who do not think at all.
The cause of this is because they appoint wrong people in these institutions based on political affiliations.
The buck stops at PF govt and the President. They have been in power for 4 years and failed to provide leadership to increase generation capacity. And who says electricity can only be generated by water? They are busy borrowing loans to buy luxury cars and to finance by elections and no thought for ZESCO infrastructure, on top of this they appoint incompetent people to ZESCO Management and Board. Imagine Fr.Frank Bwalya and Board Chairperson for ZESCO and you wonder why we are in the dark!
The power deficit was one of those problems that the mad and senseless problems Sata was supposed to solve in 90 days and the *****s cheered when he lied to them. Now the reality is here and biting. PF are incapable of running anything more complicated than a salaula stand.
The government needs to look at national priorities like excellent health care, excellent education system and employment. The need to stop buying more luxury v8vx landcrusers. Shut down INDENI because it serves no purpose for a country like zambia instead fund zesco which has potential to export power to border countries and bring zambia an income.
In Kitwe Jambo Drive not only are you load shedding but there are several interruption of supply during the day.
I wonder if you have considered dangers of sadden loss of supply to equipment and appliances. It can even cause house fire.
Just give us a proper schedule bwana, also stop exporting power to cushion this problem.
Zesco management be wise and professional.
You have handled this load shedding badly.
As far as I know ZESCO is exporting 1000 megawatts to Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. We in South Africa have had loadshedding the past 8 months because ESCOM cant meet a shortfall caused by increased demand as well as lack of maintenance of plants. Although our loadshedding has eased a little after we opened a new power station beginning June we still import from Mozambique DRC and Zambia to meet our requirements
Zesco has alot of money let Zesco procure tankers so that these tankers can be used to fetch water from oceans and supply this commodity to where electricity is being generated here in Zambia.Zesco use chimbwi law!
Are you serious? LOL.
Okay, you might need therapy and prayers. hahahahaha.
Best solution. dont even go to the oceans. There is water in Tanganyika, Mweru and Bangweulu. ZESCO can hire tankers. We bring in oil and clear beer, milk, molasses using tankers. why not water?
Banda and Ndjovu, what have you been smoking?
The are selling power to SA and DRC. We have had worse droughts than the 2 weeks dry spell experienced the last rainy season and never faced this type of loadshedding. Besides capacity was enhanced at Kariba and Itezhi thezi
No difference in the area where I stay, I had load shedding every day because of overload on the line before this load shedding. I already had enough Zesco inefficiencies in Ngwerere before this.
And somehow always during the meals preparation time!!!
Add to it 47 km. of “magnificent road” under construction for past THREE years (???) and 5 different contractors and you have summary of incompetence instead of development.
Thanks Zesco, however we need to be rotating the timings monthly. We can’t have others perpetually load shedded at night
these ba.stards. were did the euro bond go. i.di.ots
Its true when Late president Sata was alive the load sheddings stopped
Why is this organisation failing in even the basic of things . In the area where I stay they published load shedding as being from 17 to 20hrs. It is now 20 45 and power has not yet been restored. This organisation needs expatriates in all areas. Tesco publishes a schedule and not under duress and they can’t even observe it from day one
And they have a PR department which is sensational and dramatic for a moribund institution
This load shedding is like a dog chasing its tail. The more ZESCO load sheds the less income they will generate. Why? Because customers won’t be using as much electricity. Then the next thing ZESCO will increase tariffs. As it is our electricity is expensive. ZESCO wake up and sort out problems. Is this load shedding really caused by low water levels? This is only June. I shudder to think what it will be like by October when it is so hot.
We in Woodlands Chalala have had no power since 14:30 Hrs. quite irritating and this is 21:10 !
You guys in the diaspora have no idea of the extent of load shedding that is going on. In many areas, lights are going out at 05:00 hrs and only coming back on at 13:00hrs. Every day without fail !
Many residents are tied to borehole water in the compounds and without zesco, they can’t even get water.
As correctly pointed out, our economy is in recession. The load shedding only serves to reduce productivity at our industries. Employers are not paying their workers for the half day that their factories are off. This is a severe drain on our economy.
Best of all, we are contracting loans to fund Zimbabwes inability to pay for its share of the Kariba re-hab. How do we help our neighbors with electricity when our own citizens are deprived ?
The white man built Kariba in the 1950,s when our population was about 3,5m people. That was the capacity they left behind for 3,5m people at a time when many Zambians did not have electrical appliances.
Under our rule, the population has gone to close to 15m. Our generation capacity was supposed to go up to even 4 more Karibas to match what the white man did. In reality, what has 50 years of independence brought us ?
Zesco is nothing more than a political slush fund, to be abused and used as an ATM. The only thing they can do is pump up the tarriffs citing the need for more infrastructure. Massive amounts of electricity are being lost thanks to delapidated machinery and inefficiency.
I don’t think this load shedding will end regardless of what the weather holds.
Batoka gorge hydroelectric dam was designed in 1972!
Have we done anything to make this work besides lots of workshops and conferences (with hefty per diems) since then?
GRZ has failed completely. Sata and his PF were only good at telling lies!
If it is true that ZESCO is exporting 1000 megawatts to Zimbabwe, Botswana DRC and South Africa, then Load Shedding must end today.
Can we be availed the power supply agreements with these countries. Honestly you deny power to your own citizens in preference to improving the social and economic activities of your neighbouring countries. They themselves cannot do that. Instead if you assist them as we are doing, they will even snub you as though you dont know what you are doing! Xenophobia!.
Yes zesco are exporting hence the strange coincidence of blackouts in Zambia mirroring blackouts in South Africa! The monies raised from exports are unaccounted for nor are the kick backs mentioned.
ZESCO – What if it doesn’t rain next season? Don’t tell us you have no plan.
Do you REALLY expect them to have any plan what-so-ever?
What are you talking about? There is plenty of water at Kariba. I saw it. Just use it. Has the water in the lake ever finished? Just use it. It cant finish
Ba zesco/pf just tell people the truth,most of the power generated from 2 big power stations namely kafue gorge and kariba north bank is exported and locally is sold to the mines which belongs to the foreiners so called investors,the power we use in households is a drop of water in a ocean as compared to what you export and what the mines use,mind you the nation is watching you and the clock is ticking,come 2016 posterity will judge you harshly for the moribund situation you have created,as the country knows you are the most oppressive,crooks, selfish,heartless and con men .It takes a million people to build up a good reputation but it takes one stupid fool to destroy everything they do,take it upon yourself to restore the nation’s dignity.Now studing in the nights has become impossible.
country men and women,let us all demonstrate at zesco ,and state house ,and parliament. why export power to other countries and leaving mother zambia with dark ,they never appreciate zambia 4 anything we did. stop export ,and loadshed stops today. end.
zesco should not be allowed to export power if it has failed to satisfy local.demand. Where are the so called intellectuals who should look and petition these issues .we have loadshedding for close to 8 hours daily and its not productive for a nation.I propose that zesco board be dissolved and replaced by competent expartriates who will deliver and not giving out millions of kwachas of illegal tender buying to freinds /relatives.
ZESCO power outage is just a story. I visited Lstone and found the falls thundering. Water levels are rising. Lake Kariba is still slowly re-charging from the water upstream. Yes! low water will become real but not now.
ZESCO should find another excuse for now not low water levels.
Deviate all the fuel tankers from indeni and let them to bangwe weulu to draw water for zesco so that they can increase power generation!
Please visit the Kariba and look at the generation design. It is built much below the lake thus allowing water intake at any given moment. Even if it doesnt rain, we may still generate power.
Alternatively this water could still be re-circled instead of wasting it. Technology is available, engineers wake up!!
Load shedding + South Africa = Zambia + Blackout
(ze)reboos within zesco and domiciled in South Africa are selling Zambia’s electricity like a open soweto market with no regard for the local Zambian!
This is very unacceptable. Why are we going back to the stone age! It’s stupid to export power to our neighbours when we need it. This is stup!d!
This is as a result of poor planning an economy the purports to be growing cant afford to be having such power outages there are individuals who have no love for there country and the people in it and only using the power vested in them for there own selfish gain,we are back in the stone age,the billions dollars that will be lost out of the negligence of the people in power,its very sad.by now we should hav already paved way for heavy duty solar plants to relieve this situation of the forecasted poor rainfall
In this load shedding, why can’t the solar panels which was said to be helping our country help in this load shedding which is happening in lusaka…or doesn’t it mean that those solar panels are being used somewhere? Make me clear on this load shedding please and tell me when it will stop
Michael,I support your comment.
come december this year if load shedding is not stop