Retirees with incomes less than SR5,000 won’t pay for electricity

Governor of Electricity and Co-Generation Regulatory Authority (ECRA), Abdullah Al-Shehri, said the body submitted consumption bills of retirees with incomes less than SR5,000 per month to the competent authorities so that they be included in the state’s payments.

“The Electricity Company pays currently the bills of 400 thousand households covered with social insurance” said Al-Shehri.

He added that the company defined the average amount of the electricity bill to go in line with the number of family members. “But if consumption levels exceeded the defined amount, then the household should pay the difference”, he pointed out, adding that if the household saved a part of the allocated consumption levels, then the savings will be added to the next year’s quota. This is applicable also to those retirees with incomes that do not exceed SR5,000.

Al-Shehri made these comments during the opening of a road show organized by General Electric for Lighting Control Systems, which is listed in New York Stock Market as GE, as part of an effort that aims to raise awareness on the importance of adopting energy-efficient lighting solutions.

The road show revealed the GE Mobile Lighting Experience Center in a special ceremony held at the Saudi GE Innovation Center in Dhahran Techno Valley.

Touring several cities across the Kingdom, the road show aims to shed light on integrated sustainable lighting technologies that will boost energy-efficient consumption and reduce environmental emissions.

Al-Sherhi said ECRA conducted a study on boosting energy efficiency, especially now that the state supports the electricity system with big loans, and bears also some of the cost of fuels to operate the power generators with SR100 billion a year. He also called on citizens to install isolation systems in their buildings, and to use high efficiency electrical appliances in their homes.

“We already embarked on changing the electricity meters for subscribers and improving the service quality offered to them. We also aim to limit power cut out intervals and address delays in repayments of bills by installing smart meters that provide readings from the control center”, Al-Sherhi explained.

He also stressed the spread in the use of green energy through King Abdullah City for Renewable Energy, the body entrusted to develop the program.

“We seek to establish companies specialized in transmitting electricity, and to open the door wide for the private sector to enter the field, in order to increase competitiveness and raise efficiency”, he added.

 
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