AF - Request for input for New Required Reports to Congress

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000388

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REF: SECSTATE 10743

E.O. 12958 N/A
TAGS: ENRG EFIN ETRD KPWR EAID PGOV AF
SUBJECT: AF - Request for input for New Required Reports to Congress
on Energy.


1. (U) The following is Embassy Kabul's response to Reftel, which
requests input for 2 new reports to Congress on energy. Paragraph 2
offers a brief overview of the energy situation in Afghanistan and
U.S. objectives. Paragraphs 3,4,5 and 6 contain the Embassy's
responses to questions A, B, C and D in Reftel.


2. (U) After decades of conflict Afghanistan is now a fast-growing
economy with little or no infrastructure to support new demands from
the public and private sector for provision of services. Key among
these is reliable energy. The nation depends largely on hydropower
generation plants installed in the 1950-60's and limited power
imports from its neighbors (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and
Iran),which, at this point are completely inadequate to serve
demand, especially during the winter months when usage (primarily
for heat) spikes. Private sector growth is stunted, because
whatever power is available is provided erratically, and blackouts
are frequent, forcing business to invest in high-cost diesel
generation in order to operate. U.S. priorities in the Afghan
energy sector aim to increase stability and promote sustained
economic development by:

-- working with the host government to rehabilitate current energy
infrastructure;
-- helping Afghanistan ensure a reliable power supply through
installation of domestic generation, development of domestic gas,
coal and oil resources, construction of infrastructure to enable
large-scale power imports from its northern neighbors (Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan); and
-- assisting energy and finance authorities in eliminating subsidies
to the energy sector, improving performance, and boosting collection
rates for energy consumption.


3. (U) A. Sections of the Embassy working on energy matters and
their total number of staff:

-- Executive Office: Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission. Total
staff 3 FSOs, 2 OMSes.

-- Economic Section: Economic Counselor, Deputy Economic Counselor
and Economic officer. Total staff 5 FSOs, 1 OMS.

-- Afghanistan Reconstruction Group (ARG): One Senior Advisor for
Energy. Total ARG staff numbers 5 FP limited-appointment hires and
1 OMS.

-- USAID, Office of Infrastructure, Engineering and Energy (OIEE):
Office Director and Deputy Office Director, 1 U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE) hydropower program manager, 1 Electrical
Engineer/Program Manager, 1 Energy and Power Team Leader, 2 FSN
Energy Specialists and 1 Budget Analyst and 1 OMS. Total current
staff of nine.


4. (U) B. Positions of employees that work on energy matters and the
percentage of time they devote to energy matters:

-- Ambassador: 10 percent.
-- Deputy Chief of Mission: 10 percent.
-- Economic Counselor: 10 percent.
-- Deputy Economic Counselor: 20 percent.
-- Economic Officer: 60 percent.
-- ARG Senior Advisor for Energy: 100 percent.
-- ARG Senior Advisor for Natural Resources: 25 percent.
-- ARG Senior Advisor for Infrastructure Development: 5 percent.
-- ARG Senior Advisor for Private Sector Development and
Privatization: 10 percent.
-- USAID Country Director: 10 percent.

KABUL 00000388 002.2 OF 003


-- USAID Deputy Country Director: 10 percent.
-- USAID Director of OIEE: 60 percent (also covers roads and
building structures.)
-- USAID Deputy Director of OIEE: 60 percent (also covers roads and
building structures.)
-- USAID TCNPCS* Energy and Power Team Leader: 100 percent.
-- USAID USPSC** Program Manager: 100 percent.
-- USAID USACE Program Manager/Electrical Engineer: 100 percent.
-- USAID FSN Engineer: 100 percent.
-- USAID FSN Engineer: 100 percent.
-- USAID Budget Analyst: 40 percent.

* Third country national personal service contractor.
** U.S. personal service contractor.


5. (U) C. Description of the positions of employees and the kinds
of work they do (as regards energy):

-- Ambassador: Engages with host government officials and donor
country representatives on energy issues, maintains contacts with
U.S. agencies and companies working in energy sector and directs
mission energy policy, coordinates multilateral energy discussions.

-- Deputy Chief of Mission: Follows internal mission progress on
energy issues, coordinates Embassy position on energy issues.

-- Economic Counselor: Meets with host government officials on
energy issues, participates in donor coordination meetings on energy
as needed, briefs front office on development in the sector.

-- Deputy Economic Counselor: As needed, meets with host government
officials on energy issues, briefs front office on developments in
the sector, participates in fixing governmental logjams on specific
issues.

-- Economic Officer: Participates in donor coordination meetings on
energy, tracks various U.S. and donor energy projects for the Front
Office, drafts memos/cables on developments in energy sector,
coordinates recent development of Embassy Energy Strategy, one of
several Embassy representatives on Interministerial Committee on
Energy (ICE) that coordinates donor works with Afghan Government
priorities.

-- ARG Senior Advisor for Energy: Advises Embassy, USAID and Afghan
government on matters of energy policy, operations and project
implementation. Specific focus has been assuring power supply for
Kabul and bringing system operations up to an acceptable level of
performance. Also includes work on cross-border energy issues.

-- ARG Senior Advisor for Natural Resources: Advises Embassy, USAID
and Afghan government on matters pertaining to hydrocarbon resource
development.

-- ARG Senior Advisor for Infrastructure Development: Independent
Power Production issues, legal framework, etc.

-- ARG Senior Advisor for Private Sector Development and
Privatization: Works with emerging Afghan private sector to
encourage private sector involvement in energy sector as well as on
the development of industrial parks, including provision of
infrastructure; power/energy, also works on micro-hydro, bio-diesel,
alternative fuels issues, etc.

-- USAID Country Director: Engages with host government officials
and donor country representatives on energy issues, as needed, and
provides focal point for major decision on energy-related issues.

KABUL 00000388 003 OF 003



-- USAID Deputy Country Director: Follows USAID progress on energy
issues, represents Country Director as needed, and participates in
some energy-related meetings and fora.

-- USAID Director of OIEE: Provides leadership and manages energy
activities, in addition to other infrastructure programs. Assures
overall program objectives are met and that programs remain on
target. Engages high-level host country officials on energy
matters, as well as other donor representatives.

-- USAID Deputy Director of OIEE: Assists the Director in guiding
and managing day to day energy activities, in addition to oversight
of other infrastructure programs. Engages high-level host country
officials on energy matters, as well as other donor representatives.


-- USAID OIEE Energy and Power Team Leader: Manages all energy
activities, providing oversight and management to USAID contractors.
Provides expert advice to Office Director and USAID Mission on all
energy-related matters.

-- USAID OIEE Program Manager/Electrical Engineer: Ensures USAID's
energy activities related to new power development and transmission
are addressed and are technically sound. Provides day to day
management oversight with contractors.

-- USAID OIEE USACE Program Manager: Provides expert advice and
program oversight to all hydropower-related activities, including
transmission from generation to major centers. Assures technical
viability and quality control for hydropower activities.

-- USAID OIEE FSN Engineer: Provides project management to an array
of alternative energy activities. Performs on-going program
monitoring and evaluation.

-- USAID OIEE FSN Engineer: Provides project management to on-going
energy activities, as assigned. Performs on-going program
monitoring and evaluation.

-- USAID OIEE Budget Analyst: Tracks budget expenditures on all
OIEE activities.


6. (U) --1. Embassy Budget: Personnel Costs: Managed through State
offices in Washington. Program Costs: NONE.

-- 2. ARG Budget: Personnel Costs (from Embassy/DOS Funds):
Managed through State offices in Washington. Program Costs: NONE

-- 3. USAID: Personnel Costs: Managed through USAID offices
in Washington. Program Costs: 164 million USD in contracts in FY

2007.

WOOD