Saudi Gazette/OkazSaudi electricity consumptionSaudi Arabia has about 45,000 megawatts of generating capacity Population growth to result in an increase in demand for electricity by more than 30,000 megawatts by the year 2020 70 percent of energy consumption in the Kingdom goes to air conditioning DAMMAM – Industries and other corporate consumers can take legal action against Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) for frequent power cuts affecting their businesses, a corporate lawyer told the Saudi Gazette Thursday. “Industrial and corporate users have the right to go to court and file charges against SEC for breach of contract and other damages,” said Dr. Bader Bin Busaies, a corporate lawyer and managing partner of the Al-Suwaiket & Al-Busaies Law Offices. Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) said that 11 factories experienced a blackout Wednesday afternoon when an electric distribution line malfunctioned at the First Dammam Industrial City. SEC teams repaired the line and restored electricity to all the factories one hour after the blackout. Meanwhile, an electricity relay station at Sihat city experienced technical problems Wednesday morning causing a power cut for 11,640 subscribers at 5:30 A.M. SEC repair teams went to work and electricity started to return 12 minutes later with full electricity returning to all subscribers at 7:30 A.M. SEC expressed its apology for the inconvenience caused by the blackouts. Engineer Abdulhameed Al-Naeem, head of SEC Eastern Sector, said during a meeting at Alsharqiya Chamber of Commerce and Industry that “SEC is trying as hard as possible to minimize blackout durations. Power cuts are inevitable because machines are prone to malfunctions,” he was quoted as saying by SPA. But businessmen say industrial operations are disrupted by frequent power cuts which affect their business operations. Salman Al-Jish, Vice Chairman of the National Industrial Committee (NIC) and Chairman of the Industrial Commission of Alsharqiya Chamber of Commerce and Industry, urged the Electricity and Co-Generation Regulatory Authority (ECRA) to formulate legislation obliging SEC to compensate subscribers. “When power is interrupted, you have to re-schedule your operation. This costs money and manpower,” said the operation manager of a large soft drink company at the First Dammam Industrial City. Mazen A. Bader, CEO of Mahabes Company Limited, a valve automation and services center, said many companies are now renting and using power generators. __
