Okaz/Saudi Gazette TAIF — The Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA) has formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the causes of frequent power outages in various parts of the country, according to Abdullah Al-Shihiri, ECRA Governor. He said the authority had been monitoring cases of frequent power cuts and formed the committee to look into the causes and ways of avoiding them in the future. He said if the investigators discovered shortcomings on the part of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), the authority would slap fines on the company and would use the money to compensate affected consumers. The amount of the fine will be decided based on the duration of each power outage. Al-Shihri admitted that despite precautionary measures and best efforts by the company some supply disruptions could happen, especially during summer months because of the pressure on the network due to increased consumption. He cited the exampled of power disruption in Al-Shouhada neighborhood of Taif recently after the substation there was hit by a bolt of lightning. He also said the company could not be held responsible for overloads resulting from the excessive consumption during summer. Dr. Mefleh Al-Qahtani, Chairman of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), said the society had received dozens of complaints from subscribers in cities and governorates due to repeated power cuts. He said the NSHR was following up the matter with the responsible authorities. “Subscribers have a right to obtain uninterrupted electric supply. It is the power company's responsibility to ensure alternative supply channels in case of an unexpected disruption. However, problems of overload are expected during summer and the company must have thought of solutions beforehand,” said Al-Qahtani. The power company has apologized to all subscribers for inconveniences resulting from circumstances beyond its control. It pointed out that power consumption had increased tremendously with Ramadan falling in peak summer. In some cities consumption jumped by 115 percent, which led to power cuts resulting from overloads, it said. Referring to the blackout in Hafr Al-Batin recently, the company said it was working on a project linking Hafr Al-Batin's main power station to the national grid at a total cost of SR770 million. The project will solve the problem of power cuts in the governorate permanently. The SEC is also working on a plan to link the Kingdom's regions to a unified grid at a cost of SR100 billion. The project will increase the generating capacity by 15,000 megawatts, or 30 percent of the current output.
