Minister Uzi Landau
צילום: אמיר לוי
Landau predicts power shortage next summer
Energy and Water minister praises public's electricity saving efforts; IEC chair says without public's help company would have had to literally pull the plug
Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau warned recently that despite the State and public's effort to conserve energy, it is likely that Israel will experience an "electricity drought" next summer, as well.
Israel Electric Corp noted several new power demand and public consumption records in the summer of 2012, to the point of warning it may initiate blackouts.
In a press conference summarizing the Energy and Water Ministry's summer campaign for conscious power consumption, landau praised the public's response to exercise discretion in the IEC's peak hours, but stressed that "The Israeli energy market is still in the midst of a deep crisis. We will probably face a power shortage next summer as well."
Energy and Water Ministry Director-General Shaul Tzemach said that the ministry's "save electricity" campaign noted an 80% success among the public.
"People are aware of peak hours… and we have seen an actual change in the public's power consumption," he said.
Yiftach Ron-Tal, chairman of the IEC board said that the summer posed an unprecedented challenge: "We experience a very serious crisis this year – one of the gravest ever.
"We were a hair's breadth away from initiating blackouts and topping normal capacity."
The energy market's reserves hit an all-time low, Ron-Tal and without the public's cooperation on conservation efforts the IEC would have had to pull the plug – literally.
