Nelson Mandela Bay will be the first municipality to roll out a pilot load-curtailment project to allow residents some relief from loadshedding.

Joining Eskom in the rollout of a load-limiting system being tested in Gauteng, a pilot load-curtailment project was launched in Gqeberha on Monday, making the metro the first council to introduce the limited electricity programme.

This means that some residents can now switch on their lights and use their wifi and wall sockets to charge their devices during loadshedding. 

Smart electricity meters have been installed in 125 households in South End, Gqeberha, and the pilot project will run for three months.

However, residents are warned that if they use too much electricity during these times, they will be shut off immediately.

During the launch, the City's mayoral committee member for electricity and energy, Zanele Sikawuti, said the smart meters were supported by sophisticated new technology that would allow the municipality to monitor residents' electricity usage and automatically turn off those who are non-compliant.

"It is important that we make it clear that the project is about cushioning our people from a total shutdown during load shedding, instead they will have a limited electricity supply," Sikawuti said.

She added that the metro's electricity demand was generally in the vicinity of 650 megawatts and each household in the metro had a maximum electricity demand of 18.4 kilowatts.

This project will reduce the demand per household to 4.6 kilowatts.

"The project seeks to address the energy crisis faced by the country while allowing residents to still have minimal access to electricity during loadshedding. Consumers will receive bulk SMSes to advise them to switch off the high electricity consuming appliances, including geysers, stoves, pool pumps, air-conditioners and washing machines. The message is very clear: You reduce your load to stay on," she said.

Notifications will alert customers to switch off major appliances and if they don't comply, the smart meter will trip up to five times. Failure to reduce again will lead to the meter switching off for the duration of the loadshedding period.

Executive director of the metro's electricity and energy directorate, Luvuyo Magalela, said if the pilot project was a success, it would open several doors for the City to obtain funding for further rollouts across the metro.

"This way we can eliminate the complete darkness that leads to theft and vandalism. We can improve our revenue collection... there will be a reduction in non-technical losses and service delivery will be improved," he said.

Parts of the metro, such as Kariega, Soweto-on-Sea, KwaZakhele, New Brighton, Motherwell and the northern areas were also set to benefit from this project.