.- The Iraqis receive their first thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity for free each month, said on Saturday the Ministry of Electricity, after growing protests by poor supply of electricity and basic services. In the latest statement, hundreds of people gathered Friday in Baghdad to protest the poor quality of services and power cuts, while the turbulence shakes to other parts of the Arab world.
The interim minister of Electricity, Hussain al-Shahristani, said the grant would apply to all Iraqis, but were primarily intended to help an estimated eight million people on low incomes. Consumers who use more than one thousand KWH pay for what they use on the exempt amount. In October, Iraqis began to receive bills with a price increase of 100 percent after a government decision aimed at encouraging consumers to save and help cope with energy shortages.
Electricity demand has risen in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003, but still supplies the national grid only a few hours of electricity per day, a major cause of discontent in a country that lies on some of the world's largest reserves oil. "Iraq's current production is seven thousand megawatts, but actual demand is 12 megawatts," Shahristani told reporters.
Iraq plans to install gas turbines and capture oil fields to increase production of electricity, and must spend 77 billion dollars to improve the energy sector by 2030, according to a master plan. 
The interim minister of Electricity, Hussain al-Shahristani, said the grant would apply to all Iraqis, but were primarily intended to help an estimated eight million people on low incomes. Consumers who use more than one thousand KWH pay for what they use on the exempt amount. In October, Iraqis began to receive bills with a price increase of 100 percent after a government decision aimed at encouraging consumers to save and help cope with energy shortages.
Electricity demand has risen in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003, but still supplies the national grid only a few hours of electricity per day, a major cause of discontent in a country that lies on some of the world's largest reserves oil. "Iraq's current production is seven thousand megawatts, but actual demand is 12 megawatts," Shahristani told reporters.
Iraq plans to install gas turbines and capture oil fields to increase production of electricity, and must spend 77 billion dollars to improve the energy sector by 2030, according to a master plan.
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