Eskom, air pollution and negative externalities

Last week, Eskom chief Andre de Ruyter startled us when he spoke on occasion about stage-15 load shedding. I thought everything ends at stage-8. The details are that it was about what will happen when Eskom has to shut down the coal-fired power stations that currently do not meet pollution regulations. If there is already load shedding, most of us surely feel that those stations should just be kept running and we will worry about clean air later. One understands the necessity of electricity supply and protection of jobs, but we must not think that it is without cost. * The Economics Minute is supported by the NWU Business School.