disconnecting and reconnecting electricty

[Justloadit]

Compared to international prices, electricity in this country is still ridiculously cheap, even after the recent increases. The global average KWH price is somewhere around 20UScents, we're paying closer to 10UScents at the moment.

Please don't compare our electricity cost to any other country, unless you compare income! Our income is no where near what the US is. Compare the power of the earner against the cost of electricity as a value and you will notice that we are paying far higher.

[murdock]

andy...as i have always done in the past paid my bills...registered with all relevant bodies or associations and what ever else was required...

i have been a home owner twice...the first time round i paid my rates etc without a complaint...the second property i purchased...had no problem paying my rates...until one month it went from R300 to over R900...and nobody can can give me a valid answer other than it was a reassessment...

250 amps for an engineering company or plastic injection moulding would not be regarded as large...but i am not here to nit pick...if you were starting a sign washing company you wouldnt need 250 amps....i can give you an example of 3 companies which have halted expansion due to the extremely high cost to upgrade their power...resulting in not requiring additional staff...increasing the supply would create employment if you look at the bigger picture...someone has to do upgrade the power...creating imployment...someone would have to supply the cable and transfomer etc creating employment...someone would have to install the cabling and transfomer...you get the picture.

something off the topic...i noted that the spoornet has only 250 appies counry wide and yet when i was an appy they had more than that in one training centre at any given time,,,why are they not training people...they have these well equipped training centres which look like ghost towns with maybe 1 or 2 people walking around and al the equipment sitting idle.

look at the cost to generate the power...show me the comparison in cost to generate.

how to prevent theft...create employment...disipline the youth...when we were kids if we got out of hand we were taken to the police station and sjamboked...i dont know that that would be the utimate solution but what i do know is there needs to be some control.

cigarettes are treated like a bad thing in society...maybe people need to open their eyes and see what drink and drugs are doing to our society especially the youth.

and just something i noted this morning on morning live...the military need special hospitals because of the type of injuries...do they get blown up...shot at...beaten up ...can someone give me stats on injures from gun shot wouunds...rape...in the military compared to civilians...if anything they should be building special hospitals to handle trauma...accidents...gun shots...etc etc...i remeber when i the military...our biggest cause of injuries...were accidents due to negligance...it came out on the morning live that these hospitals will be for goverment officials...mmm there is alway a plot.

[Dave A]

it came out on the morning live that these hospitals will be for goverment officials...mmm there is alway a plot.

So that they do not have to use public hospitals?

[Sparks]

At the end of the day it boils down to there being enough money available to be stolen. Only one place it can come from.

[AndyD]

Please don't compare our electricity cost to any other country, unless you compare income! Our income is no where near what the US is. Compare the power of the earner against the cost of electricity as a value and you will notice that we are paying far higher.

Unfortunately the fuel burned, the infrastructure used and even the technologies involved in power generation and distribution are all globally priced so you have to compare prices on a global scale and not a local one. The only thing I can think of that's locally priced is the labour but nowadays the price difference isn't that great when you take into account the output and abilities of the local workforce compared to their global counterparts.

[Justloadit]

Unfortunately the fuel burned, the infrastructure used and even the technologies involved in power generation and distribution are all globally priced so you have to compare prices on a global scale and not a local one.

Hi Andy,

I would beg to differ in that the fuel cost is far lower than the world market, so much that they prefer to export the coal than supply ESKOM with it because they get a higher price on the world market. The infrastructure is local, and many of the components used in the distribution is local, so the cost of the local infrastructure is also lower.

The fact that we need to build new power stations may play a role in electricity costing.

[murdock]

i have come to realise something today...i am actually broke...its not about the electricity department...or standard bank....or cash flow in the bussiness...its the way i have spent/managed my money...or should i say blown it....i hear people always complaining about capital....not being able to get finance etc etc...its what you do with the little money you have which makes all the difference...many years ago i had nothing flat broke i took the little money i had and spent it wisely...and slowly but surely the banks started giving me more and more credit...and as i got more i wanted more...now 10 years later i am not just broke like i was then i am in deep dwang...i have always had a policy not to spend more than i have assets...unfortunatley i have exceeded my assets..the interest and penalties are choking me to death and i am falling down a mine shaft so fast that i dont even think there will be a cushion when i hit the bottom this time.

[Justloadit]

Hy Murdock,

You not the only one. I have sat this week and looked at my financials, and if I carry on this way, I am going to go under. I just can not get rid of my expenses because of signed contracts. The penalties to cancel are the same amount as the contract period, so there is no way out. Yes I did read the contracts before I signed, and yes I did understand the terms and conditions, but when I signed them business was on the increase, and Eskum was supplying plenty power, until the black outs. From that time till now there has been no recovery, and turn over has steadily decreased month by month. No matter how hard I try, I just can not get it going up again. The population, just does not have any spare cash to buy. They want to, but just have no spare income.

Currently I am looking at new products, but the responses I am getting is the same, just do not have the money to buy. It seems the whole country is in survival mode.

Heard on the radio today that FIFA income for 2007-2010 world cup was $3.2Billion, apparently the highest gross income so far. No wonder there is no money in RSA, he took every bloody thing with him. A wolf in sheep's clothing I say.

Beware of the visitor bearing gifts!

[Dave A]

Lots of business people still struggling, for sure. I suspect the World Cup concealed the severity of the recession outside of the big infrastructure splurge.

Kinda a mixed blessing. It took some of the edge off the pain, but on the flip side what we've got going now doesn't look nearly as attractive as it would have otherwise.