Eskom CEO Brian Dames has indicated that he is “concerned” about the utility’s ability to honour its current mandate of “keeping the lights on” during the winter of 2013. He says the utility will need to continue with maintenance during the high-demand period, as it can no longer allow critical maintenance to be shifted out. It also cannot resort to power buy-backs to create a maintenance cushion, as these have been barred by the energy regulator.