Abstract

It has been said that electricity has become the cornerstone on which the economy and the daily lives of citizens in the developed world depends.1 While this is undoubtedly true in the United States, where the statement was recently made, it is equally true for the majority of the citizens and the economy of South Africa where more than 70% of all power is used by mining, commercial and industrial consumers and where more than 65% of the citizens enjoy the benefits of cheap grid distributed power. In the United States, revenues from electricity exceed that of telecommunications, airlines and gas, an indication of the relative contribution of the industry.2

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