Blackouts Return, Deepening Iraq's Dark Days
Lack of Steady Electricity Is Biggest Obstacle to Reconstruction, Officials Say.

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, July 3, 2003; Page A01

[U.S. and Iraqi electricity specialists said the country's power problems start with a lack of investment in generating capacity and maintenance during the 35 years that the Baath Party government was in power. After the U.N. Security Council imposed economic sanctions on Iraq in response to Hussein's decision to invade Kuwait in 1990, spending on the electrical infrastructure -- and the flow of much-needed spare parts -- was further curtailed.

Although Iraq's power plants were designed to produce about 7,800 megawatts of electricity, they were able to provide only about 4,500 megawatts last year because of chronic breakdowns and lingering damage from the 1991 Persian Gulf War. "It was a very fragile and unstable system," said Maj. Gen. Carl A. Strock, the director of operations for the U.S. occupation authority.

Even before this year's war, when demand was about 6,000 megawatts, power outages were part of daily life. But Hussein's government managed the shortfall -- and played favorites. Neighborhoods were informed when they would be subjected to rolling blackouts. Baghdad, Tikrit and other cities where Hussein enjoyed strong support received a disproportionate share of power, while towns in Shiite-dominated southern Iraq got far less.]

[After the war, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was given responsibility for restoring the electrical infrastructure, discovered that doing so was not as simple as fixing a few pylons. Looters had made away with crucial spare parts from several plants. There was no fuel for oil-fired units because the country's refineries were not working. The startup of some facilities required an initial boost of outside power, which was nonexistent.

Finally, by late April, U.S. and Iraqi engineers were able to start resuscitating power plants and lights began to dot Baghdad's skyline. By early last month, the plants were generating about 3,100 megawatts, about 1,300 of which were being sent to the capital. It was about half of the city's demand -- enough for shops to open, street lights to operate, air conditioners to hum and life to start returning to normal.

Then the next round of trouble began. Looters ripped down transmission wires to steal the aluminum and copper. Old power plants, which missed their annual spring maintenance because of the war, chugged to a halt. Sizzling summer temperatures caused a drop in the transmission system's efficiency. People bought large numbers of air conditioners and television sets, placing new strain on the system.

And most significantly, saboteurs believed to be loyal to Hussein started to attack the system by felling towers and cutting lines. U.S. officials here would not detail the number of cases of sabotage to the electrical infrastructure other than to call them significant.]

From the Washington Post.