Your load shedding schedule might already be watching the Pacific Ocean

South Africa’s strengthening El Niño isn’t just a story about heat and drought anymore.

According to Cape Town Today, it could also put real pressure on Eskom’s already thin power reserves this summer.

Why hotter weather means more strain on the grid

As El Niño drives temperatures up over the 2026/27 summer, more households and businesses will likely lean harder on air conditioning and cooling, according to Cape Town Today.

The publication reports this could inflate national electricity demand by 8–10%.

That would shrink Eskom’s reserve margin to around 1 500 MW, a buffer that’s already stretched thin in normal years.

The bigger picture behind the numbers

This sits alongside a wider set of El Niño pressures already confirmed by multiple sources: the World Meteorological Organization’s forecast of a strong event developing through October, above-normal temperatures expected from August through December, and increased drought and veld fire risk across the summer rainfall regions.

Add rising electricity demand into that mix, and the strain compounds across water, food, and now power all at once.

Why this one’s worth watching closely

Unlike the heat or drought angles, this is the first sign that El Niño’s reach could extend all the way to your load shedding schedule, something that touches daily life more directly than a dry dam or a hot afternoon.

Hectic to think our lights could be caught in the crossfire of all this too. I’ll be keeping an eye on whether Eskom or other sources confirm these numbers as summer gets closer. I am not looking forward to this.

Do you think load shedding could make a comeback this summer because of El Niño, or is the grid in better shape than that?