Israel Electric seeks higher rates, warns of power outages
I should preface this post by saying that our electric rates have gone up 30% this year, that we have one electric utility for the entire country, and that its employees are both unionized and among the highest paid employees in the entire country - before you count in their 'all you can eat' electric use. But the electric company wants more. And so, they are warning of power outages during an expected heat wave in the week ahead. The Israel Electric Corporation has warned that the impending heat wave is expected to cause a spike in electricity consumption and a possible "electricity drought."I went to the Electric Company's website and could not find anything about planned cutoffs. We had an unplanned cutoff between about 4:00 and 5:00 am on Tuesday, which is not exactly a peak hour.
The weather forecast calls for a heavy heat wave until Thursday, July 19. The IEC said that it expects electricity demand to reach 11,500 megawatts on some days, which will sap reserves and cause power blackouts in the event that something interferes with production.
Moreover, the IEC plans to take preemptive action and halt the supply to power lines throughout Israel for one-hour periods. The list of areas slated for planned cutoffs can be viewed on the IEC site.
...
The IEC and the Energy Ministry have been saying for some months that this summer could see electricity outages due to Egypt cutting off Israel's supply of natural gas, which provides energy for the country's power plants.
Recent action has been taken to allow Israel's power stations to operate on diesel fuel and oil, which both cost more and create more pollution than gas. In addition, using diesel and oil decreases the power plants' efficiency. However, combined with other measures taken by various government entities, the alternate fuels were expected to create a sufficient supply of electricity.
Labels: electric rates, Israel Electric Corporation
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:48 PM
3 Comments:
yeah... didn't Bibi just say he was going to get rid of Nuclear Energy in Israel? Might be a good idea to rethink this.
Welcome to my world here outside Chicago.
All of which would be unnecessary had Israel constructed two or three nuclear power plants.
Then again, at the IEC they never plan ahead! Its Israel's worst run state-owned public corporation.
What could go wrong indeed
Post a Comment
<< Home