2021 Activity

Electricity management should be put aside of political rivalries

Electricity management should be put aside of political rivalries

In a session held by AMAN to discuss draft Report on the Reality of Integrity, Transparency and Accountability in the Electricity Sector Management in Gaza,

Electricity management should be put aside of political rivalries

Gaza – While the Gaza Power Generating Company (GPGC) was absent, the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) held a session to discuss the draft Report on The Report on the Reality of Integrity, Transparency and Accountability in the Electricity Sector Management in the Gaza Strip. The session brought together representatives of the Change and Reform Bloc, Electricity Distribution Company (EDC), Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority (PENRA), Mezan Centre for Human Rights, Palestinian Centre for Policy Research and Strategic Studies (Masarat), and a number of researchers and journalists.

Available power capacity only meets 45 percent of Gaza needs   

Since 2006, the Gaza Strip has been experiencing a crippling power crisis after the Israeli occupying forces bombed six transformers of the GPGC, the only power generating plant in Gaza. The internal Palestinian political divide has further exacerbated the power crisis. Gaza witnesses a severe shortage of electrical power. The power supply currently available from all three sources, namely Israel, GPGC and Egypt, covers only 45 percent of Gaza electricity demands. The EDC delivers the power supply to end users.

The dilemma of multiple electricity management agencies

The foregoing requires maximum efficiency in the energy sector management as well as compliance with the values and principles of integrity, transparency, accountability, equality, and justice. The report aims at examining how compliant agencies that handle the electricity sector (EDC, GPGC, PENRA, and Palestinian Electricity Regulatory Council) with these norms. It also investigates how committed relevant officials and staff are to impartiality in the sector management. It explores the existence of effective accountability systems in the electricity sector management. Adherence to these principles has become a pressing need to improve this vital and sensitive sector and overcome deepening problems and crises, which negatively reflect on citizens’ lives.

Need for a modern, consolidated and agreed electricity and energy law in Palestine

The report comes up with necessary recommendations. Most notably, electricity should be distanced from political rivalries. In addition to addressing multiple supervisory agencies, the lack of approved and operative laws and regulations on the electricity sector will be overcome. A new, consolidated, and agreed electricity and energy law will be enacted to ensure impartial management of this important sector. The report highlights the need to disclose and make available information on the electricity sector to both citizens and institutions. While financial and administrative reports are published, electricity regulators will put in place accountability systems on relevant websites an social media platforms.

Codes of corporate conduct will be published and staff training provided

The report emphasises that training on the code of professional conduct will be provided to the Gaza-based PENRA staff. The PENRA needs to develop regulations and guidance manuals to avoid conflicts of interest and handle the receipt of gifts. Having developed a draft, the EDC will publish and finalise staff training on its own code of conduct. Manuals on the receipt of gifts and conflicts of interest, which were compiled by the EDC, will also be made publicly available.

Opportunities for legislative oversight and accountability must be promoted and the working relationship between electricity regulators regulated

The report attaches particular importance to  the principle of partnership. All agreements concluded by the Gaza-based PENRA will be presented to the Economic Committee of the Change and Reform Bloc with a view to promoting opportunities for legislative oversight and accountability of those who negotiate these agreements. Control and supervision provided by the PENRA and State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau over the EDC will be scaled up to an advanced level, whereby EDC managers are held to account for the policies and decisions they make. All government, political and civil society actors will ensure that Palestine Electricity Company remain within the bounds of accountability. 

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