The South African government is raising efficiency levels for high-consumption electrical products,  like street lights, in an effort to reduce the energy burden on the national grid, especially as State-owned utility Eskom continues to face constraints in supplying electricity. With experts recommending the country should brace for a protracted period of intermittent power cuts, or load-shedding, for at least another five years, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (MRE) and the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) are developing minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for streetlights.