Electricity falls short of Iraq’s needs

[unhappycamper]

Electricity falls short of Iraq’s needs
By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, November 12, 2008

BAGHDAD — With Iraq’s power grid still broken five years after the war began, unassuming huts like the one in Baghdad’s al-Iskan area are being called on to save the day.

The structure is only slightly larger than a shed and tucked away in a corner of al-Iskan. Prison-grade locks seal the building’s iron gates. Behind these bars sits a 350 kVA generator so new that the plastic still rests on top of the Beetle-sized machine.

Just a softball pitch away, it’s clear why the building’s contents are so protected. Brand new transformers sit on rusty poles — idle four months after their installation because no one bothered to connect them to the power grid. Nearby, power lines sag to the ground or are missing altogether — not that it matters much because not enough electricity flows through those lines anyway.

American leaders are looking to generators to buy some time until the country can produce enough electricity to overcome persistent power shortages, probably the No. 1 complaint among Iraqis.

Multi-National Division—Baghdad didn’t have an exact tally of the number of generators being installed. But 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division — which controls the Rashid security district, including al-Iskan — has already installed 27 generators and is installing 62 more. In all, the United States’ "microgeneration" and power renovation efforts in Baghdad run close to $23 million, according to officials.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58762