BAGHDAD ELECTRICITY SHORTAGES EXACERBATED BY FUEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002818

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR IZ EAID EAIR PREL
SUBJECT: BAGHDAD ELECTRICITY SHORTAGES EXACERBATED BY FUEL
CRISIS, INTERDICTIONS

Classified By: PRT Team Leader Andrew Passen for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D
).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Baghdad residents get an average of about two
hours per day of electricity from the national grid and an
additional 16.3 hours per day of electricity from
neighborhood and personal generators, at a total cost of
about USD 171.00 per month, according to local contacts and a
recent study conducted by Baghdad PRT. Chronic fuel
shortages make it costly and time consuming for families to
acquire the fuel necessary to run generators. Corruption and
threats reportedly contribute to an inequitable distribution
of state-provided electricity and drive up the price of fuel
resources need to power generators. PRT contacts routinely
report that after security, lack of electricity is their
primary concern. END SUMMARY.

National Grid Provides Average of Two Hours of Daily Power
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2. (SBU) In most areas of Baghdad, the national grid provides
an average of two hours per day of electricity, according to
local contacts and a recent study by Baghdad PRT that relies
on information provided by Government Information Centers
(U.S.-funded information-gathering offices that function at
the district level). Several factors suppress power output
in Baghdad, including inequitable distribution,
interdictions, system degradations and inadequate fuel
supplies and delivery.


3. (SBU) Equitable distribution of electricity has proven
difficult. Most power plants in Iraq are located in the
north and south. Central Iraq receives its share of
electricity from transmission lines carrying power from those
regions. The Ministry of Electricity has designed a plan to
distribute electricity among the provinces, but Baghdad
generally receives ten percent less than its share of power,
in part because other provinces continually exceed their
designated allotments. Exceeding allotments destabilize the
national grid, resulting in periodic, country-wide blackouts.


4. (SBU) Power lines transmitting electricity to Baghdad from
other regions are vulnerable to insurgent attacks. Repairing
the damage to the transmission lines caused by such attacks
is difficult due to unpredictable security conditions.


5. (SBU) Use of the wrong fuel also creates system
degradation and inefficiency. Due to chronic shortages of
diesel fuel and natural gas, some plants operate with heavy
fuel oil. As a result, Baghdad residents suffer both planned
and unplanned outages more frequently. Approximately 1900 MW
are lost daily due to these outages. Approximately 1400 MW
are lost daily due to inadequate fuel supplies and
sub-optimal fuel usage.


6. (SBU) Residents from Baghdad's nine central districts told
PRToffs that there is no pattern to when they receive
national power, noting that sometimes they will have no
electricity at all from the national grid for several days,
and then one day have eight hours of continuous electricity.
Most contacts report that national electricity usually comes
in periods of about 10 or 15 minutes at a time.

Sectarianism, Threats Cause Inequitable National Distribution
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7. (C) PRT contacts from Karada, Rusafa, 9 Nissan and East
Rashid urban districts report that sectarianism, corruption
and extortion have led to inequitable national power
distribution in their areas. Contacts from Karada told
PRToffs that employees from the local power station have
asked all homes in one neighborhood to pay a daily bribe of
5,000 Iraqi dinars (about four U.S. dollars) in order to
receive 18 hours of national power per day. Contacts in Dora
and 9 Nissan report that militiamen have threatened to blow
up power stations unless employees ensure that their
neighborhoods receive at least 12 hours of electricity per
day. Contacts in Rusafa report that residents of some
neighborhoods pay bribes to the power station employees to
receive more power than adjacent neighborhoods.


8. (C) PRT contacts in the predominantly Sunni areas of the
Adhamiya district(north Baghdad) report that the Iraqi Army
sometimes destroys, as a form of collective punishment, power
transformers in neighborhoods where soldiers have been
attacked.

Most Baghdad Electricity Supplied by Generators
-------------- --


9. (U) According to the Baghdad PRT study, Baghdad residents
receive an average of 16.3 hours per day of electricity from

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generators. About nine hours of this power comes from
neighborhood generators that serve between 75 and 125 homes,
and about seven hours comes from private generators that
serve one or two homes. Neighborhood generators can cost up
to USD 25,000 to purchase, while private generators cost
between USD 400 and USD 1,500.


10. (U) The owner of a neighborhood generator in Baghdad
charges a certain monthly amount per ampere of power
supplied. A meter provided by the generator owner regulates
the amount of amperes of power a resident receives.
Residents usually pre-pay for the electricity they will use
for one month, and power is then provided on a daily set
schedule. Owners of neighborhood generators can either turn
off their generators when the national power grid turns on
and later supply their customers with the equivalent number
of pre-paid hours when the grid turns off again, or they can
maintain the pre-determined schedule.


11. (U) Neighborhood generators are generally powered by
diesel. Since residents pre-pay for neighborhood
generator-provided electricity, the generator owner/manager
will pass on unanticipated price increases (due to shortages
in supply or fluctuations in black market prices) to
residents the following month.


12. (U) Private generators provide electricity when the
national grid and neighborhood generators are not running.
Since neighborhood generators are run on a set schedule,
residents can anticipate when they will need to run their
private generators. Private generators are powered by
benzene, which residents must acquire either at government
fuel stations or on the black market.

Problems with Neighborhood Generators
--------------


13. (U) The owners of neighborhood generators in Baghdad
operate inflexibly, without oversight, accountability, or
competition, and they often withhold electricity for
sectarian or personal motives. Power use is restricted to a
set schedule that allows no flexibility for resident needs.
There is no oversight to ensure that residents get the amount
of electricity they pay for. Since most neighborhoods are
not serviced by more than one neighborhood generator,
residents do not have the option of taking their business
elsewhere if they are overcharged or otherwise cheated.
Residents in some areas complain that they have been denied
service by neighborhood generators for sectarian and personal
reasons.

Fuel Shortages Make it Difficult to Power Generators
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14. (C) Chronic fuel shortages due to corruption and security
problems associated with fuel transport regularly make it
difficult for Baghdad residents to obtain fuel needed to
power generators. PRT contacts report that lines at
legitimate fuel stations are often several miles long and
that it usually takes five to eight hours to be served.
Residents report that many stations will only sell fuel to
customers with cars and will deny service to customers
attempting to fill jerry-cans. PRT contacts say that most
customers filling jerry-cans are probably trying to buy fuel
for private generators, but that station owners are
suspicious that they will sell fuel from cans on the black
market.


15. (SBU) PRT contacts from across the city report that they
routinely siphon fuel out of their cars to power their
personal generators. Usually residents suck on the end of a
garden hose inserted in the fuel tank to start transfer the
fuel, despite the potential health risks of this practice.


16. (C) PRT contacts report that black market fuel usually
costs at least four times the government price, and that
police and militiamen control the black market in many
Baghdad neighborhoods. PRT contacts also say that they
routinely have to pay bribes in order to purchase fuel from
legitimate stations. These stations in turn reportedly pay
bribes or supply fuel to militiamen or police in exchange for
"protection."

Increasing Generation and Capacity
--------------


17. (SBU) Twenty generation projects are currently underway.
By the end of 2007, an additional 800 MW or more of new and
rehabilitated power will be added to the national grid, of
which 380 MW will be available for Baghdad. By the end of
2008, 2,775 MW of state-generated power is scheduled to be
added to the national grid, adding another 1029 MW for

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Baghdad.

Comment
--------------


18. (C) Solutions to power shortages in Baghdad will have to
include multi-faceted approaches that improve security,
prevent other provinces from exceeding power allotments,
increase reliable fuel imports, undermine corruption at
national power facilities and block militia control of fuel
stations. The lack of state-provided electricity is a
constant source of frustration for average citizens. Baghdad
residents usually say that after security, electricity is
their primary concern. PRT contacts routinely report that
the fact that they have to constantly struggle to provide
fuel for generators, often by waiting in line for hours at
fuel stations or by paying high black market prices,
undermines their confidence in their government.
CROCKER