RIYADH: The chief executive of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has asked the public to contribute in efforts to reduce energy consumption and make savings. Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Ali Al-Barrak said that switching off a single air-conditioning unit in many houses in Riyadh would save “hundreds of megawatts” of electricity. “I'm talking about those people whose homes have a large number of air-conditioners,” Al-Barrak said. “They could, instead of running eight air-conditioners, use only seven.” He said that 70 percent of energy consumption in the Kingdom goes on operating air-conditioning systems. “A lot of that is due to inefficient units that require a lot of energy to function,” he said. “The public should make greater efforts to reduce their energy consumption as it would also result in lower electricity bills for them and fewer power cuts, as well as reduce the load on the electricity networks and plants during the summer.” The SEC chief executive assured the public that the company is working as hard as it can this summer to prevent power outages. “Likewise, if they do occur, we try and return power to the network as quickly as possible,” he said. Al-Barrak added that media reports of power cuts should specify the location and the number of persons affected, to avoid unnecessarily “causing concern to the public”.
