Electricity Distribution: a Glimpse of What the Future Could Be

This episode brings the listener something very different: a real-life story from the ground up, providing a practical example of how electricity distribution in SA will change over the near future. It is the story of a family and of a business, starting out in Hammanskraal in the 1990s with a baby in the bakkie as Dad climbed a ladder while Mum held a flashlight, to a distribution company in Mafube in the Free State working with local government and local communities, both black and white. There were demands for “a cut” along the way. They walked away and found a new place to build a new network of electricity and people. So what? Electricity distribution can be done profitably. Citizens will pay for a reliable service. If private companies are allowed in, they will carry the cost of infrastructure. Distribution will change, by choice or default. Better to do it by choice and design. For more about JP, and to read his newsletter, pleasevisit his website.