DAMMAM, 18 October 2003 — The private sector in the Eastern Province, especially the industrial part, has urged a review of electricity charges which they say are unrealistically high.
Several businesses in both Dammam and Jubail industrial cities believe that high electricity charges are preventing growth and contributing to unnecessarily high operating costs.
Some companies say that the high charges jeopardize their production and a few even say they have reached the point where closure is the only option.
Gulf Ferro-Alloys Company (Sabayek) has set up a committee to study the situation and then recommend whether to continue or declare bankruptcy.
An executive of the company said the management was trying to salvage the situation. The company produces heavy industrial goods and its consumption of electricity is thus high.
In addition to industrial objections, ordinary citizens and expatriates say that electricity charges are a burden. They say that they do not object to the high rate, but feel the real problem is the surcharge that increases bills by more than 50 percent.
An official at the Saudi Electricity Company’s (SEC) billing section admitted that instances of disconnection as a result of nonpayment of bills were increasing. He added there were more disconnections in summer than in winter.
SEC officials maintain, however, that its charges for both residential and industrial electricity are among the lowest in the world. At the same time, electricity is subsidized in the Kingdom, which results in SEC experiencing deficits.
