Iraq power going up, says Pentagon report

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Iraqis are receiving more electricity than last year, according to a Pentagon report, as the power sector, facing obstacles, makes progress.

Nationwide, average electricity not provided by private generators was 107,581 megawatt hours from September through November, according to the U.S. Defense Department's "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" report released Tuesday.

That's a 14 percent increase over the same time frame last year and included an all-time, post-2003 high of 125,000 megawatt hours on Oct. 12, 2007.

But this has only translated into an average of 15.1 hours of electricity per day across the country, with many provinces, including Baghdad, receiving less. Salah al-Din province, north of Baghdad, received the most average electricity with about 19.1 hours per day in November, according to the Pentagon report.

The use of private generators for a home or block is still prevalent, adding to the run on fuels that are in high demand but low supply in Iraq, a result of slow development of both the electricity and oil sectors.

The Electricity Ministry has been actively pursuing contracts to build more power plants. The minister has complained of a lack of interest from international firms, especially American, and has in recent months signed deals with Chinese and Iranian companies.

This is all part of the plan to boost Iraq's power capacity by 3,300 megawatts by 2009. "Fuel shortage and system maintenance, however, may reduce actual increases in electricity production," the Pentagon report said.

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Ben Lando, UPI Energy Editor

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(e-mail: blando@upi.com)