The dominant feature of this summer in many Arab countries is the unusual heat wave, coupled with ongoing power cuts. As a result, private generators have to be used while fuel has to be secured for them, instead of relying on the “government's electricity supplies”. In truth, the use of generators is an ‘uncivilized' invention, because of the environmental pollution they cause, not to mention the additional costs and the inconvenience they incur upon the citizens. The Arab citizen's problems with electricity companies are various. There are the ongoing daily power cuts that last for many long hours, the sudden cuts on certain days, and the rationing of electric supply. Of course, there is also the burden resulting from increased expenses, and the damage to the household electrical appliances. In fact, the public has expressed discontent about this deterioration of an essential service that the government is supposed to provide. As a result, there were demonstrations in some countries, while in others, demonstrators closed down roads while burning tires, and there were complaints in the media. Thus, the people expressed their disgruntlement, each in proportion with the margin of freedom available in their respective countries. In response, the (public) power companies issued similar statements, basically calling on the citizens to be patient and to remain calm, until this difficult period during the summer passes, and asked them not to resort to demonstrations or riots. “This is because the power company is doing all it can within its limited capabilities to provide the greatest possible degree of stability in the power supply, and in equal amounts to all regions of the country. The power company appeals to the citizens not to attack the public power grid, since this would exacerbate the problem and affect the supply even further”. What is striking in the statement, which is an exact replica of the one published by an Arab power company during this summer, is that the power company did not apologize to the citizens for the damages and losses they incurred. Nor did the company pledge to work on a solution – which is supplying enough power next summer -, or to balance power supply and demand after a year. The reason why no apology was made is the Arab tradition in this regard, as the state does not feel responsible towards its citizens, while officials believe that apologizing to their peoples for their mistakes degrades them. Meanwhile, the reason why no pledge was made to improve the power supply in the future is that the officials know that they cannot improve services by next summer, or even the summer after that. Subsequently, the text of the statement above constitutes the Statement Number One of the concerned Arab power companies, a statement that will be probably parroted repeatedly in the coming years. It is also the first warning for the citizens to accept, even if reluctantly, what they are being offered, and not to demonstrate or protest, as these are “bad” habits that contradict with the “traditions of our countries”. But why is there such an ‘abnormal' electrical trend then? And why are there no successful solutions for it, even after years of suffering and painful experiences? The causes differ between one Arab country and another. For instance, the countries affected by wars usually face the problem of sabotage and delays in the construction of new power plants that meet the increasing post-war demand for electricity. There is also the problem of the lack of investment funds to build power plants and power grids in some countries, in addition to corruption and embezzlement usually involving tens of millions of dollars – as it was revealed in the courts of certain countries. This in addition to the delays caused by hiring incompetent companies that were awarded their contracts after bribing certain officials, and the failure to assign the appropriate priority to the power sector in the annual budgets, despite the fact that electric supply is one of the most basic services needed by citizens, as well as the industrial sector. With the growing scarcity of electricity at the pan-Arab level during the summer season, one may wonder why the concerned countries do not establish mixed companies between the private and the public sectors. By using such companies, it is in fact possible to attract local or foreign capital, in addition to public investments. One may also wonder why no plants operating on renewable energy sources were built to fill the current gaps in the power supply provided by plants that operate on petroleum products and natural gas, and to make savings in fuel costs. In order to avoid problems of this kind, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development took the initiative to link the power grids of Arab countries. However, power consumption is very high in the summer, preventing the transfer of adequate amounts of power supply among countries to cover the power shortages. Here, we are referring to the available data on power consumption in the Arab countries, which show patterns of very high consumption increases similar to those seen in China, India and Brazil. But since industrial growth has not developed much in the Arab world unlike in the emerging countries, the high increase in annual power consumption is caused by the increase in the standard of living, which in turn means a growing demand for electricity at very high levels in the future. In other words, we will be facing major crises in the coming years, if the power companies continue to follow the same pattern. In this case, we can expect to see the Statement Number One frequently in the summers to come. *. Mr. Khadduri is an energy expert
