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By Aimen Eljali.
Tripoli, 21 June, 2013:
The recent hot weather across the country has seen the return of power cuts because of . . .[restrict]surges in consumption as people turn on the airconditioning.
Last month, the Minister of Electricity, Ali Muhairiq, said that power cuts would soon be a thing of the past thanks to an order for mobile generators from US-based APR Energy to supply 250 MW of power. The generators arrived at the end of May and there has since been a second contract with APR to add a further 200 MW. However, none of the generators is due to start operating before 1 July.
The Ministry of Electricity has responded to the surge in demand by launching an awareness campaign this week, calling on people to reduce electricity consumption at home and in the workplace. The wasteful use of electricity is both immoral and not in keeping with the practices of developed nations, the Ministry has said. It is responsible citizenship to conserve usage, it insists.
How effective the campaign will be is open to question. For large numbers of people, electricity is effectively free because they do not pay their electricity bills, nor are they forced to do so. [/restrict]
