The effects of the economic hardships currently being experienced in Uganda are expected to bite harder when day long and night long load shedding starts soon.
Umeme, the concessionaire of Uganda Electricity Distribution Company said today that the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company has announced a shortfall of 50MW (mega watts) during day and 120MW during night which will result in both day long and night long load shedding.
Electric power connection
In a statement, Umeme said different areas will experience load shedding from 6am-6p (day) or 6pm- 6am (night) as the power distributor tries to ration the available power.
The company says such load shedding is expected to take place not more than once every four days of the week.
With many local small and big business crying foul about the unprecedented increase in prices of goods and services resulting from a high inflation and poor performance of the Uganda shilling against the US dollar, the power outages are likely to bring many businesses to their knees.
And as businesses without alternative electricity option will suffer, this will no doubt also affect the local customers who might get less products or services and have to pay even more due to scarcity of some products and or services.
With an inflation of more than 14%, and the US dollar trading at more than 2,700 Uganda shillings, many people and businesses are feeling the pinch of an unstable economy and traders in Kampala have already promised to strike on Wednesday and Thursday if the government does not intervene.
It has emerged that Power producer Aggreko switched off 50megawatts based at Kiira, in Jinja while Electro-maxx Ltd switched off 22 megawatts based in Tororo District. Jacobsen Ltd is expected to shut down its 50-mw plant in Namanve on Wednesday, drastically cutting electricity supply to the national grid.
UETCL CEO, Erias Kiyemba has confirmed that the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), cut off supply to government due to non-payment of arrears of March to June 2011 totalling to about 200 billion Uganda shillings.
Such a turn of events will have many wishing that the government can quickly finalize the Bujagali power project that is expected to generate 220MW later next year.
Ultimate Media