Deputy Minister of Electricity for Electricity Affairs Dr. Saleh Al-Awaji said that the Electricity and Co-Production Regulating Authority has recently submitted a new pricing structure to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. He denied claims that the electricity tariffs would be cut but a periodical review is part of the Authority's responsibility, Al-Watan reported. “Reviewing the tariff does not necessarily translate into slashing it. However, the matter has been referred to competent authorities to look into this possibility and the fact that the private sector is competing to win projects in the electricity sector may be conducive to lowering the tariff,” Al-Awaji said. He said the revised tariff would take into consideration the basic needs of the consumer as well as the basic need of low to middle income subscribers. Al-Awaji said a new system may be available to subscribers where an average rate can be paid each month based on the subscriber's monthly electrical needs. Several Gulf countries will be connected via an interlinking electricity grid starting at the end of this year, the deputy minister said. The project will be run on an experimental basis at the beginning of 2009. The countries which will be included in the experimental grid are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait the project is said to cost SR4 billion. He said Oman may be added to the list of countries participating. Recent power outages were attributed to high consumption rates as well as the high seasonal temperatures. “Despite everything we do, power outages are inevitable”, he said. Large power consuming organizations such as hospitals and factories are required to have several standby generators in case of failures, Al-Awaji said. “This helps to restore the service and to maintain the stability of the system.” Al-Awaji advised consumers to disconnect electrical appliances as soon as a power outage occurs. Only light bulbs should remain connected, he said. If power outages occur the electricity company is not mandated to reimburse subscribers if the problem was caused by something other then negligence.
