Palestinian territories
IEC provides power to the Palestinian territories. It is one of three sources of power for the Gaza Strip[17] and the West Bank.[18] Palestine Electric Company, founded in 1999 as a subsidiary of Palestine Power Company LLC, operates the Gaza Power Plant, the only power plant in the Gaza Strip, with a generation capacity of approximately 140 MW. PEC was granted by the Palestinian Authority an exclusive right to generate electricity in the Gaza Strip and sell it to PA owned or managed institutions for 20 years, which may be extended for a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms. The company currently does not have any fuel for its generator. Gaza also receives some power from Egypt, though supply is unreliable.[19] Palestine Power Generation Company Plc, founded in 2010, operates a natural gas power generating plant in the West Bank.
On 23 February 2015, IEC cut off the West Bank power for about 45 minutes due to unpaid bills.[20] Two days later it again cut off power, stating it was a warning to the PA to begin paying down the debt, which at that time was NIS 1.9 billion.[21] The majority of the debt is owed by the PA and Jerusalem District Electricity Company (JDECO) which is a Palestinian electricity firm which buys its power from IEC and serves east Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Jericho areas.[22] IEC stated that it is losing NIS 85 million per month on power supplied to Nablus and Jenin that is not being paid for, causing the majority of IEC's quarterly loss.[23] The Palestinians accused IEC of collective punishment,[24] however, IEC stated that it must operate independently and are treating this as it would any customer who does not pay their bills.[25]
On 31 March 2016, IEC again cut power to parts of the West Bank, in the Jericho area, because of the NIS 1.7 billion debt.[26] On 4 April, IEC cut power in the Bethlehem area,[27] and the following day it cut power in the Hebron area.[28] On 6 April, IEC restored full power to the West Bank after it received a payment of NIS 20 million, and an agreement to receive a full debt repayment schedule within seven days.[29]
From June 2017, the PA informed the IEC that it will no longer to pay the bills for Gaza's electricity. It is said that PA's decision to stop the payments is an effort to undermine rival Palestinian group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip on a de facto basis.[19]
