Essay On Power Outages

What are the effects of power outages on businesses in South Africa?
Power outages create problems in the socio-economic development of the country because businesses, factories, shops, hospitals etc. struggle to continue functioning due these outages. The elderly, sick and very young are the most vulnerable, especially during the colder months. Students are also affected, they sit in the darkness and are unable to study or work. Patients also suffer terribly because operations stop in hospitals and the limited generator power is diverted to essential services. Power outages at night also encourage thieves.
People and hospitals have problems with their day to day activities, offices aren’t able to run properly; people aren’t able to do their work on time. Businesses in the fresh food industry will suffer from unnecessary wastage and expense during power cuts. Power outages could lead to financial breakdown and an economic misbalance.
Businesses suffer because they run mainly on power. This means a loss of customers and income- production decreases and slows everything else down, which in turn slows the economy down.
Manufacturing, cold storage, processing, ready-to-eat food item-makers and businesses that provide a service will be affected severely; as there is already pressure on their profit margins; many businesses are forced to underutilize their capacity during power cuts.
For many of us power outages are nothing more than an inconvenience, but it can have a serious effect on any business, especially those that are heavily reliant on a stable power supply. There is the irritation of things not going as planned and the fact that power outages costs businesses time and money.
Businesses are all frustrated by the constant powe...

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...electronics are plugged into surge protectors.
• Obtain an alternate power source.
• Use backup power sources for emergency power.
• Have an emergency lighting ready.
• Prepare your employees.
• Make plans regarding customers. Have an emergency plan for customers.
• Only use generators in well-ventilated areas.
Businesses should get backup generator installed to cover future power cuts taking into account the initial cost and the cost during an outage for fuel and maintenance.
Our country has the greatest potential in the world for alternative energy – we have excellent sunshine for solar power and areas of the country that would work well for wind farms. Build new power plants, Minimize electricity theft, Stop corruption and Use renewable energy sources.
It should become socially unacceptable to use power inefficiently. We all need to stand up for our own future.