Ecra Activities Report 2011

Activities & Achievements of the Authorityin 2011

June 2012

2 ECRA

Our Mission .................................................................................................................

To insure that supplies of electricity and desalinated water products provided to consumers in the Kingdom are: • Adequate• Reliable• Of high quality, and• Fairly priced

.................................................................................................................

12011 Activities & Achievements

2 ECRA


4 ECRA

Contents


6 ECRA

Subject Page

Summary of the Report 11

Part IGeneral Background on

the Electricity and Water Desalination Sector, and the Authority15

The Electricity and Water Desalination Sector 16

Overview of the Authority 17

Part IIActivities and Achievements of the Authority in 2011

23

Consumer Care and Service Providers Affairs 24

1- Electricity Outages 24

a) Statistical Study of Causes of Electricity Outages 24

b) Mahayil-Asir Electricity Network Study 25

2- Review of SEC’s Safety Procedures 26

3- Electricity Industry Accidents Reporting Procedures 27

a) Workshops 27

b) Second Edition of the Procedures 27

c) Administering the Procedures 27

4- Regulating the Consumer-Service Provider Relationship 27

a) Agreement for Service Connection at the Distribution Voltage 28

b) Consumer Agreement 28

c) Rules for Electricity Service Disconnection 28

5- Rules for Relocation of Overhead Electricity Networks 28

6- Electricity Service to Consumers with Special Needs 28


Subject Page

7- Rules and Procedures for Consumer Care and Service Providers Affairs 29

8- Consumer Complaints 30

a) Management of Complaints System 30

b) Complaints Regarding SEC 30

9- Electricity Connection to Farms, Villages, Hamlets, and Settlements 33

Tariffs 34

1- Service Connection to the Distribution Network - Setting Charges According to Breaker Capacity

34

2- Time-of-Use Tariff for Non-Residential Consumers 35

3- Electricity Industry Data and Tariff Computations Program 35

4-ClassificationofSaudiAramcoElectricityMeters 36

Codes and Regulations 37

1- Saudi Electricity Transmission Code 37

2- Seawater Desalination Code 37

3- Charges for Use of Transmission System 37

4- Supervision of Codes and Regulations 38

a) Saudi Electricity Transmission Code Supervisory Committee 38

b) Saudi Electricity Distribution Code Supervisory Committee 38

Licensing 39

1- Authorizations 39

2- Licenses 40

3- Exemptions from Licensing 40

4- License Forms 40

8 ECRA

Subject Page

Electricity and Desalinated Water Industry Plans 41

1- Electricity Industry Restructuring Plan 41

2- Long Range Plan for Electricity 43

3- Development of Long Range Plan for Water Desalination 44

4- Electricity and Water Desalination Industry Data 44

Standards, Quality of Service, and Performance Monitoring 45

1- Licensees’ KPIs 45

2- Financial and Accounting KPIs for SEC 47

3- Development of Electricity Demand-Side Management Program 47

4- Standardization of Distribution Voltage 49

Electronic Management and IT 50

1- E-Management 50

2- ECRA’s Website 50

3- Oracle Program 50

Other Activities 51

1-ElectricityBillPaymentAssistancetoRecipientsofSocialSecurityBenefits 51

2- GCC Electricity Interconnection 51

3- Saudi Arabia-Egypt Electricity Interconnection 52

4- The Annual Electricity Statistical Booklet 52

Human Resources and Finances 53

1-Human Resources 53

2-Training and Manpower Development 53

3-Financial Data 54


Subject Page

Part IIIReport of the Electricity Industry Dispute Resolution Committee

59

Introduction 60

Composition of the Committee 60

Charges of the Committee 60

Modus Operandi of the Committee 61

Activities of the Committee 61

Part IVThe Electricity and Water Desalination Industry in the Year 2011

65

The Electricity Industry in 2011 66

The Electricity Tariff in the Kingdom 74

Water Desalination in 2011 84

Participation of the Private Sector in the Electricity and Water Desalination Industry 90

The Appendices 93

Appendix (1): Authorizations, Licenses, and Exemptions from Licensing 94

Appendix (2): Documents and Information available on ECRA’s Website 99

The Board of DirectorsManagement of the Authority

105

10 ECRA

Summary of the Report


12 ECRA

This report consists of four parts.

***

Part I contains a general background of the

electricity and water desalination sector in Saudi

Arabia, and a brief overview of the Electricity &

Cogeneration* Regulatory Authority (ECRA).

***

Part 2 aims to give a complete picture of the

Authority’s activities and achievements in 2011

which included the following accomplishments in

the areas within ECRA’s purview:

Consumer Care

• Continuation of monitoring power interruptions

and studying their causes.

• Investigation of the condition of the Mahayil-

Asir electrical network.

• Organization of several workshops on the procedures

for reporting electricity industry accidents.

• Completing preparation of agreement for

service connection to the distribution network,

consumer agreement, and rules for service

disconnection.

• Completing drafting the rules and procedures

for providing electricity services to persons with

special needs.

• Preparing a draft of the rules for relocation of

overhead electricity network segments.

• Issuing the second edition of the “Rules and

Procedures for Reporting Electricity Industry

Accidents”.

* Cogeneration: The simultaneous production of electricity and desalinated water (or steam) used in other production processes.

• Commencing preparation of the database for

electricity industry accidents.

• Preparation of the terms of reference for the

project to draft the rules, regulations and

procedures for Consumer Care and Service

Providers’ Affairs.

• Commencement of work on creating a system to

handle consumer complaints.

• Resolution of some 88% of the 447 consumer

complaints received by the Authority concerning

electricity services.

• Continuation of ECRA’s participation in the

activities of the committee for electricity

connection to farms and villages plan.

Tariffs

• Setting charges for service connection to the

distribution network based on breaker capacity.

• Completingreviewofthefinalresultsofthe

pilot project conducted by the Saudi Electricity

Company (SEC) to improve consumers power

factor.

• Continuing actual implementation of the

automated system for management of the

electricity industry information database.

• ClassificationofSaudiAramcoelectricity

meters.

Codes and Regulations

• Enactment of the Seawater Desalination Code.

• IssuanceofcertainmodificationstotheSaudi

Transmission Code.

• Commencement of work on developing

regulations for use of the transmission system.


Licensing

• By the end of the reporting year, the following

authorizations, licenses, and exemptions were issued:

- Nine authorizations to commence studies to

undertake projects in electricity generation,

cogeneration, and water desalination.

- Thirtyfivelicensesforelectricitygeneration,

transmission, trading, distribution,

cogeneration and water desalination.

- Twelve exemptions from licensing for

electricity generation, cogeneration and

water desalination plants.

• Completingthedraftofthefinalformofthe

Energy Principal Buyer license, and the license

for mobile electricity generation units.

Electricity and Water Desalination Industry Plans

• Following up of implementation of the

electricity industry restructuring plan.

• Preparation of terms of reference for a study to

develop a fuel plan for electricity generation

and water desalination.

Standards, Quality of Service, and Performance

Monitoring

• Measurement of KPIs of service providers for the

firsttimeintheKingdom.

• ImplementationofSEC’sfinancialand

accounting KPIs.

• Completion of the study on development of

electric energy demand-side management

programs.

Other Activities

Continuing implementation of the program for

electricitybillpaymentassistancetobeneficiaries

of social security in association with the Ministry of

SocialAffairs.Thenumberofbeneficiariesin2011

reached 241,000.

The Authority continued the process of building

its internal infrastructure, streamlining its business

operations, and making further strides in its move

towards E-management.

***

Part III of the report outlines the activities of the

Electricity Industry Dispute Resolution Committee *

showing that the committee’s docket during the year

had 126 cases, of which 64 were adjudicated by the

committee.

***

Part IV of the report contains a description of the

state of the electricity and water desalination

industry** in the Year 2011 and other issues related

to this industry.

* Electricity Industry Dispute Resolution Committee: A committee, independent of the Authority, formed by a Council of Ministers decision

** The electricity and water desalination industry: Electricity services that Persons undertake or intend to undertake, which include electricity generation, cogeneration, transmission of electricity, its distribution, supply and trading; water desalination, its transportation to points of distribution, and trading in desalinated water.

14 ECRA

Part IGeneral Backgroundof the Electricity and

Water Desalination Sector,and the Authority


16 ECRA

The Electricity and Water Desalination Sector

Components of the Sector

The electricity and water desalination sector is composed

of the following elements:

The Ministry of Water and Electricity: which is

responsible for establishing overall policies, plans, and

strategies for the Electricity and Water Desalination

Industry.

The Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority

(ECRA): which is responsible for regulating the Electricity

and Water Desalination Industry and issuing licenses

to any person engaged in any of its activities. Details of

the goals, objectives, and responsibilities of ECRA are

contained in the following section of this report.

The Electricity and Water Desalination Industry: which

consists of entities licensed by ECRA, such as the Saudi

Electricity Company (SEC), Saline Water Conversion

Corporation (SWCC), and others as listed later in this

report. These entities generate electricity, produce

desalinated water (with or without simultaneous

production of electricity) or steam (with simultaneous

production of electricity), transmit or transport these

products, distribute them to consumers, or trade in them.

The Consumers: who purchase the products of the

electricity and water desalination industry for their own

use.

The electricity and water desalination industry, in turn,

consists of two components:

• The Electricity Industry: SEC is the dominant player

in this industry as explained later in this report. It

is a joint stock company whose shares are traded

publicly in the Saudi Capital Market. Over 81% of

the company’s shares are owned by the Government

and Saudi Aramco. The company performs the

functions of electricity generation, transmission*,

anddistribution.SWCCgeneratesasignificant

share of the electricity sold by SEC. A few producers

supply electricity to captive customers. Several

Independent Power Projects (IPPs) and Independent

Water and Power Projects (IWPPs) are currently in

operation and some are under construction or in

advanced stages of bidding.

ECRA’s Board has approved plans for restructuring the

electricity industry** by unbundling its main activities

of generation, transmission and distribution. The aim of

the unbundling is to create an environment conducive

to competition wherever possible. It is clear that

competition will be easiest in generation, but eventually

competition will be introduced in the retail business

(non-wire related) of distribution and services.

• The Water Desalination Industry: At the present

timeSWCCistheonlysignificantplayerinthe

water desalination arena. SWCC is currently a

government agency but has over the past few

years worked diligently on plans to privatize all its

operations. These plans have received government

approval, and SWCC management is working

on implementation of the approved plans. It is

anticipated that the outcome of the privatization

process will be introduction of real competition in

this industry which hitherto has been absent. Several

IWPPs are in operation and more projects are under

construction or in the process of bidding and when

completed and operational, these plants will supply

a major portion of the desalinated water requirement

in the Kingdom.

* The Saudi Electricity Transmission Company (SETC) was recently established. It is a joint stock company, wholly owned by SEC. SETC is responsible for transmitting electricity from the generation plants to the distribution network system.

** See page 41 (The Electricity Industry Restructuring Plan).


Overview of the Authority

Introduction

The Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority

(ECRA) was established in 1422* AH (2001) with the

aim of insuring that consumers in the Kingdom obtain

electricity supplies; and products of cogeneration and

water desalination that are adequate, reliable, of high

quality, and at reasonable prices.

To carry out this objective the Authority monitors the

performance of service providers, within a regulatory

framework that is consistent with the government’s laws,

its decisions and policies, and the applicable standards

in the Kingdom as well as international best practices.

The main goals of the Authority are:

• Protection of the public interest and the rights of

consumers.

• Promotion of consumer oriented electricity, water

desalination, and cogeneration services that protect

the consumer’s right of choice among competing

service providers.

• Encouragement of private sector investors to

participate and invest in the development of the

Saudi electricity and water desalination industry,

protecting their interests, and enabling them to

realize fair economic returns on their investments.

• Formation of a clear, transparent, stable, and

non-discriminatory regulatory framework for the

electricity and water desalination industry.

• Creation of a favorable environment that encourages

legitimate and fair competition among providers and

suppliers of electricity and in the water desalination

industry.

The Electricity Law and the Authority’s Charter delineate

the responsibilities entrusted to ECRA by the government

inorderforittoachieveitsobjectives.Specifically,these

responsibilities cover four areas as follows:

• Supply Matters - issuing licenses for generation,

transmission, distribution, retailing, and trading

of electricity and cogeneration services as well

as production, trading, and transportation of

desalinated water; monitoring licensees’ compliance

with their license requirements and conditions;

developmentofunifiedregulatoryaccountingand

reporting procedures for electricity, cogeneration,

and desalination providers; coordination of

the infrastructure of the electricity and water

desalination industry, and development of the

expansion plans of these industries.

* The Authority was established by Council of Ministers Decision Number 236 issued on 27/8/1422AH (13 November 2001). On 17/5/1425AH (5 July 2004) the Council of Ministers, by Decision Number 163, assigned to the Authority the additional responsibility of regulating the cogeneration industry. Consequently, the Authority’s name was revised to the current appelation of “ Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority” (ECRA). On 4/5/1428AH (21/5/2007) the Council of Ministers enacted a new charter for the Authority through the Council’s Decision Number 154 that included addition of the regulation of production and transportation of desalinated water to the existing ECRA remit.

18 ECRA

• Consumer Issues - assessment of tariffs charged

for supply of electricity, cogeneration, and water

desalination services, periodic review of these tariffs,

proposing (as needed) new tariffs to the government,

protecting interests of stakeholders in the industry,

investigating and resolving complaints by involved

parties, and improving industry performance.

• Technical Issues - developing and issuing best

practice codes and standards, insuring adequacy

of the R&D activities of the electricity and

water desalination industry, promoting energy

conservation measures in coordination with the

Ministry of Water and Electricity (MoWE), and

handling other relevant technical matters.

• Organizational and Administrative Tasks -

definingpublicinterestwithregardtothe

electricity and water desalination industry,

development of regulations for expansion of

the infrastructure of the industry, encouraging

private sector participation and investments,

and issuing periodic reports to the Council

of Ministers on costs and tariffs of electricity,

cogeneration, and desalination services.

Organizational Structure

ECRAisafinanciallyandadministratively

autonomous organization, supervised by a board

of directors chaired by the Minister of Water and

Electricity, with the Governor of the Authority as

deputy chair, six members from senior government

officialsrepresentingtheministriesofWaterand

Electricity, Finance, Petroleum & Mineral Resources,

Commerce & Industry, Economy & Planning,

andSWCC;andfivemembersselectedontheir

own merits. The section entitled “The Board and

Management of the Authority” (page 105) shows

the composition of the Board in 2011.

The board is the ultimate authority to supervise

ECRA’s affairs, adopt policies and plans for its

operations, pursue implementation of laws and

regulations, and issue directives related to public

policies and approved plans of the electricity

industry.

The Authority is headed by the Governor who is

appointed by a Royal Order at the ministerial rank

of “Distinguished Grade”. He is the chief executive

andoperatingofficeroftheAuthority.


The Governor is assisted by three vice-governors,

and a number of permanent and temporary advisors

and consultants. The information technology, the

public relations departments, and the internal

auditing unit report directly to the Governor.

Each vice-governor heads a sector of ECRA’s

operations as follows:

1- Vice-Governor for Consumers and Service

Providers Affairs

Supervises the following two departments:

Consumer Care: handles documentation of

consumers’ rights and responsibilities, investigates

their complaints and claims of violations by

service providers, prepares cases for referral to the

Electricity Industry Dispute Resolution Committee,

and periodically reviews causes of consumers’

complaints and disputes in order to suggest

appropriate rules and procedures to eliminate them.

Service Providers Affairs: handles documentation

of service providers’ rights and obligations, reviews

disputes and claims of violations by a service

provider against another or against the Authority,

prepares cases for referral to the Electricity Industry

Dispute Resolution Committee, and periodically

reviews causes of service providers’ complaints and

disputes in order to suggest appropriate rules and

procedures to eliminate them.

2- Vice-Governor for Regulatory Affairs

Oversees the following departments:

Technical Affairs: prepares technical studies dealing

with regulating the electricity and water desalination

industry, develops rules to insure provision of

reliableandefficientservices,preparesstandards

of performance for licensees, and oversees their

compliance with these standards.

Legal and Licensing Affairs: receives applications

for authorizations, licenses, and exemptions from

licensing; oversees compliance of licensees with

the requirements and conditions of the Law and

their licenses; prepares contracts and agreements;

drafts and reviews proposed rules, procedures,

regulations, and forms used for the industry; and

represents the Authority and defends it in litigations

and courts.

20 ECRA

Economics and Tariff Affairs: conducts studies on the

economics of the electricity and water desalination

industry; prepares studies for tariff reviews; develops

indicators and incentives for consumers and service

providers to encourage conservation and improve

performance; and maintains the Electricity National

Register and updates its contents periodically.

3- Vice-Governor for Support Services

Oversees the following departments which deal with

theAuthority’sinternalandback-officeoperations:

Financial Affairs: includes accounting, purchasing,

and storehouse.

Human Resources: handles personnel affairs,

employment, training, health insurance, travel, and

personnel services.

Administrative Support: includes mail services,

reproduction, photocopying and binding, document

scanning,transportation,centralarchives,andoffice

refreshment services.

PropertyManagementOffice:Overseesoffice

furniture and equipment, space utilization, building

maintenance, janitorial services, and building security.


Figure (1): Organization chart of the Authority

Board of Directors

Governor

Governor’sOffice

Information Technology

Public RelationsExternal Auditor

ServiceProviders

Affairs

ConsumerCare

Legal &Licensing Affairs

TechnicalAffairs

HumanResources

Economics &Tariff Affairs

Internal Auditing

Advisors

Vice-Governor,Support Services

Vice-Governor,Regulatory Affairs

Vice-Governor, Consumers& Service Providers Affairs

FinancialAffairs

The organization chart of the Authority is shown in Figure (1).

PropertyManagement

AdministrativeSupport

22 ECRA

Part II


Activities & Achievements of the Authority in 2011

24 ECRA

Consumer Care and Service Providers Affairs

Figure (2): SEC’s operating districts

The consumer is the main focus of ECRA’s interests.

The Authority thus created a department of

Consumer Care to cater for his needs and foster

his rights and interests. The department performs

its duties within the regulatory framework of the

Electricity Law and its Implementing Regulations

that prescribe the principle of fair treatment and

availability of choices in selecting the means

of dealing with disputes that arise between the

consumers and the service providers.

ECRA’s activities in the area of consumer care during

2011 included the following:

1- Electricity Outages

a) Statistical Study of Causes of Electricity Outages

During the year under consideration ECRA

continued requesting periodically from SEC reports

and data regarding power outages (particularly for

outages affecting 100 or more consumers and lasting

30 minutes or more) for the purpose of studying

these cases, analyzing them and investigating their

causes in order to follow up on implementation of

mitigation techniques to minimize their recurrence.

ECRA analyzed the outages in each of the SEC’s

districts of operations (Figure 2), the number of

affected consumers, and the duration and causes

of the outages. The Authority concentrated on the

causes of the outages, and it worked with the service

providertofindsolutionstolimittheirrecurrence

and minimize their impact on the consumers.

Comparisons were made periodically to gauge

improvements made, the level of decrease of

outages, and their frequency.

In general, the principal causes of outages were:

• Cable damages which accounted for 38% of all

outages.

• Weather conditions which were responsible for

23% of outages.

• Transmission network failures which were the

cause of 11% of the outages.

In2011ECRAnotedasignificantdecreaseinthe

outages caused by load shedding compared to the

previous year. This improvement in performance is

attributable to SEC’s efforts to increase generation

capacity through its projects of building new

generation plants and improving the network in

various locations.

District

Eastern District

Southern District

Central

District


Figure (3):Percentage Distribution of Causes of

Electricity Outages in 2011

Figure (4):Distribution of complaints by

SEC operating district

34%Western

OperatingDistrict

31%Central

OperatingDistrict

16%Eastern

OperatingDistrict

19%SouthernOperating

District

38%Cable Damages

24%Other Causes2%

Failures of IsolatedGeneration Units

2%Failures of MainGeneration Units 23%

WeatherConditions, Failuresof Overhead Lines

Failures of Transmission

Networks

11%

Figure 3 shows the percentage distribution of

the causes of electricity outages throughout the

Kingdom in 2011,

while Figure 4 shows the percentage distribution of

the power outages in SEC’s operations districts.

ECRA is working closely with SEC to continually

increase the capacity of the overall electricity

network to meet the ever-increasing demand,

while at the same time insuring maintenance of a

reasonable level of reliability in accordance with

international standards, as well as updating the

networks and increasing the generation capacities

in the various locations in order to minimize power

outages as much as possible and reduce their

impact on consumers. Implementation of projects

to achieve these objectives undoubtedly requires

huge investments and continuous supervision of the

network throughout the Kingdom.

b) Mahayil-Asir Electricity Network Study

Seeing a surge in the frequency of power outages

and their duration in certain parts of the Kingdom, as

well as what KPIs measurements indicated regarding

the rather low level of service quality in some parts

ofthecountry,ECRAdecidedtoundertakeafield

studytofindoutthecausesoftheseproblemsand

devise remedies to improve the situation. Mahayil-

Asir, in the Southern Operating District was selected

as the site for this study which was to be considered

as a representative sample for all other similar areas.

The study was undertaken by a team from ECRA,

SECandaninternationalconsultingfirm.Thestudy

resulted in a comprehensive report that outlined the

main underlying causes for interruption including

administrative, operational, and planning issues

aswellasdeficienciesintheoriginaldesignand

construction of the overhead networks. The report

contained the following recommendations:

26 ECRA

Firstly: Developing a Plan to Improve Administrative

and Operational Procedures: To be implemented

immediately and for the short term. The objective

oftheplanistoovercomedeficienciesinthe

administrative and operational procedures that do not

requirelargefinancialexpenditures.Itconcentrates

on evaluating physical and manpower resources,

surveying the electricity networks, and performing the

required maintenance works.

Secondly: Developing a Comprehensive Plan to

Improve the Electricity Network Performance:

A long term plan to remedy the conditions and

weaknesses of the electricity network. The plan seeks

to improve and enhance the distribution networks

by upgrading or replacing the overhead power lines

with other types, and installing power restoration and

partitioning equipment. These measures contribute

to bolstering reliability of the network and expediting

restoration of power.

ECRA sent the report to SEC and charged the

company with implementing its recommendations,

and submitting periodic reports on the progress of

implementation as well as reporting any achievements

in network performance improvements. ECRA also

charged the company to undertake a comprehensive

study in the other areas for which measurements of

the KPIs showed failure to meet the required levels

of performance, and submit proposed remedies with

timetables for execution.

2- Review of SEC’s Safety Procedures

Due to the occurrence of several safety-related

incidents in the operations of SEC during 2011,

ECRA undertook a detailed review of the SEC safety

procedures. A comprehensive report was prepared

containing general notes regarding common

instructions the company must observe, as well as

specificinstructionsandproceduresitmustadd


to its existing system. The report raised questions

regarding the company’s ability to follow through on

implementation of its safety procedures. At the end

of 2011 ECRA was still discussing with SEC the steps

that must be taken in the short and the long terms

to alleviate the dangerous conditions that lead to

accidents.

3- Electricity Industry Accidents Reporting Procedures

a) Workshops

In 2011 ECRA continued organization of workshops

in several cities in the Kingdom that were started in

the previous year. The theme of these workshops was

“Electricity Industry Accidents Reporting Procedures”.

Staff members from SEC and other licensees

participated in these workshops which were held to

familiarize them with the procedures, and insure that

they understand them and apply them properly.

The workshops consisted of an explanation of the

procedures that covered how to report incidents

to the Authority, how to prepare reports of major

electricity industry accidents such in the areas of

generation, transmission, or distribution, health and

safety accidents, or accidents that have environmental

impact. The workshops also served to answer queries

from the participants regarding various aspects of the

procedures and to clarify them, as well as present

an evaluation of the experience of application of

the procedures for the period since their adoption in

2009.

b) Second Edition of the Procedures

In response to comments received by ECRA either

directly from the licensees or through the workshops

held in the past two years regarding the electricity

industry accidents reporting procedures, the Authority

in 2011 updated these procedures and issued the

second edition.

c) Administering the Procedures

In 2011 the Authority commenced development of

a preliminary concept for building a database of

electricity industry accidents by utilizing an electronic

system, which it already owns, for management of the

electricity industry database and information. Building

of the database is expected to be completed in 2012.

The database will facilitate collecting information

aboutaccidentsforpurposesofclassificationand

analysis. It will also serve as a channel for the

licensees to report accidents to the Authority, thus

insuring that accident reports are submitted in a

timely manner as required by the procedures.

4- Regulating the Consumer-Service Provider

Relationship

During the report year the Authority completed drafts

of two agreements covering the consumer-service

provider relationship, as well as a draft of the rules

regarding service disconnection. After a series of

meetings between the Authority and the service

providerstheagreementsreachedtheirfinalstagesof

development. They were published in newspapers to

solicit public comments on them.

The documents are aimed at regulating the consumer-

service provider relationship by outlining the rights

and responsibilities of each party. The documents also

serve as a legal reference in any dispute that may arise

between the parties.

Following is a description of these documents:

28 ECRA

a) Agreement for Service Connection at the Distribution

Voltage

This is an agreement signed between the service

provider and the person requesting the service

delineating the rules and conditions under which

the service is provided. It includes the rights and

responsibilities of each party, the application form

for requesting the service, and all the basic data and

documents that are required for service connection or

that might be required while the agreement is still in

force.

b) Consumer Agreement

This is an agreement between the service provider and

the consumer which covers the conditions for providing

the service. It includes the conditions and rules that

each party must abide by, the application form for

opening a consumer account with the company, and

all the basic data and documents that are required for

consuming electricity or that might be required while

the agreement is still in force.

c) Rules for Electricity Service Disconnection

Theserulesdefinetheconditionsunderwhichthe

electricity service to a consumer may be disconnected.

They include the steps that the service provider must

undertake (including giving warning notices through

several means to the consumer in a set period of

time prior to the action) before he can disconnect

the service. The rules also include the conditions and

procedures for resuming the service after the conditions

for disconnection have been eliminated.

5- Rules for Relocation of Overhead Electricity

Networks

ECRA’s experience in the past few years has indicated

that a substantial number of consumers complaints

concern requests to relocate overhead electricity lines

that cross their properties. In 2011 the Authority drafted

“Rules for Relocating Overhead Electricity Networks”

toserveasbasisforresolvingthisissue.Therulesdefine

the responsibilities of the service providers and the

property owners and outline the conditions that govern

requests for relocation. Final draft and adoption of the

rules is expected in 2012.

6- Electricity Service to Consumers with Special Needs

Thefinaldraftoftherulesandprocedurestohandle

requests for service from consumers with special

needs has been completed by the Authority in

2011. The objective of this document is to set a

comprehensivedefinitionofpersonswithspecial

needs, and establish mechanisms and special

procedures for handling their needs. In 2012 the

Authority will continue consultations with the

service providers prior to adoption of these rules and

procedures.


7- Rules and Procedures for Consumer Care and

Service Providers Affairs

The responsibilities assigned to ECRA by the

Electricity Law include enhancing the electricity

services and bolstering the rights of consumers and

service providers. In pursuit of this responsibility

ECRA issued in 2011 a Request For Proposals (RFP)

invitingqualifiedconsultantstosubmitbidsfor

preparation of several regulatory systems dealing

with the relationship between the Authority, the

consumers and the service providers. The systems

aim to protect the rights of all parties. They are

to be designed in line with the best international

practices, while at the same time taking into

consideration the present and future conditions of

the Saudi electricity industry. The scope of work

consisted of the following:

• Reviewing existing regulations in the Kingdom

and other countries for consumer services and

service providers’ affairs.

• Comparingandanalyzingdeficienciesinthe

existing regulations.

• Determining the elements of consumer

protection which include:

- Electricity meter rules.

- Management of consumer relations by the

service providers.

- Consumer complaints procedures.

- Practices for defending and protecting

consumer rights.

- Electricity service quality standards.

- Measurement of consumer satisfaction.

- Information and services offered to

consumers, including informational

campaigns about their rights and

responsibilities.

The scope of work also included development of

comprehensive regulations for service providers’

affairs, their rights, regulations for realizing fair

return on their investments, the practices of

defending and protecting their rights, procedures to

enhance the Authority’s ability to expedite dispute

resolutions, and regulations and codes regarding

competition among service providers.

30 ECRA

8- Consumer Complaints

a) Management of Complaints System

In 2011 ECRA signed a contract with a consulting

firmtodevelopasystemtohandleconsumer

complaints and enhance the services of the

consumer care department and increase its

efficiency.Thesystemaimstoachievethefollowing

objectives:

• Automate the consumer care department

procedures.

• Receive consumer complaints either

electronically though ECRA’s website or in

personatitsheadoffice.

• Process the complaint electronically within

ECRA

• Notify consumers of the progress of their

complaints by SMS messages.

• Provide a portal in the Authority’s website where

the consumer can follow the progress of his

complaint, and obtain information regarding

any recommendation or decision made by the

Authority with respect to his complaint.

• Provide various types of reports such as the

percentage of resolved complaints, types and

sources of complaints, and the service provider

district from which the complaint originated.

The work under this project is expected to be

completed in 2012.

b) Complaints Regarding SEC

The Authority deals with consumer complaints

associated with electricity, cogeneration, and water

desalination covering areas such as application of

tariffs, quality of supply, quality of service, billing,

and other matters through mediation*. The same

method of mediation is also used to resolve disputes

that arise between the industry participants. Among

the cases in which this method was employed were

the following examples:

• A number of consumer complaints involving

requests for service connection and billing.

• A request by the Ministry of Health to

transfer responsibility for the operation and

maintenance of the proposed Najran hospital

switching station to SEC.

• A request by SWCC to review its proposed

agreement with the Saudi Electricity

Transmission Company to provide electricity

service for the pumping stations of the Shuqaiq

Water Desalination System (Phase II).

The Authority works diligently to treat all players

fairly whether they are consumers, service providers,

investors, traders or any other participant in the

electricity and water desalination industry. It is also

keen on protecting all players’ interests vis-à-vis

third parties. In the event that mediation fails, the

Authority may issue a ruling on the dispute or refer

it to the Electricity Industry Dispute Resolution

Committee. The Authority’s ruling may also be

referred to the Committee if one of the parties does

not accept it. The Committee’s decisions may be

appealed to the Kingdom’s Court of Grievances.

During the report year, the total number of

complaints received by ECRA regarding SEC services

was447.TheyareshowninTable(1)classifiedby

* Mediation: a process in which a representative of the Authority conducts discussions among the parties to a dispute designed to enable them to reach a mutually acceptable agreement.


type and by the SEC operating district from which

they originated. The Authority successfully resolved

some 88% of these complaints while the remaining

ones are still under its active consideration.

It should be noted that the number of complaints

in 2011 has decreased by 38% from the number in

the previous year. The decrease is attributed to the

following:

• Resolving the issue of service connection to

residential units for which the owners do not yet

possess titles. The resolution was made through

application of the procedures mandated by the

Council of Ministers Decision (CMD) Number

136* issued on 15/5/1429AH (19/5/2008).

In 2011 complaints arising out of this issue

decreased by 71% compared to the previous

year.

• Resolving complaints regarding service

connection tariff. This problem was resolved by

applying the rules and regulations in this regard

contained in the Service Provision Manual.

In 2011 complaints arising from this issue

decreased by 67% compared to 2010.

* The CMD 136 included several items among which: requiring the Ministry of Rural and Municipal Affairs to expedite surveying all residential units for which the owners do not yet possess titles in accordance with the requirements of CMD Number 115 issued on 7/5/1424AH (7/7/2003), and allowing a grace period of two years starting from the date of issuance of CMD 136 to submit requests to connect electricity service to existing housing units constructed in areas that already had the service, provided they were constructed prior to the date of CMD 115 issued on 7/5/1424AH ( 7/7/2003).

Complaint typeSEC Operating District

Eastern Central Western Southern

Service connection 3 15 23 16

Billing and tariff 8 22 15 8

Removal of overhead lines and compensation requests

3 6 6 37

Removal of substations and transformers

4 6 7 2

Power interruption 12 92 45 66

Others 5 16 14 16

Total complaints by operating district 35 157 110 145

Total district-specific complaints 447

Table (1): Electricity consumer complaints in 2011

by type and SEC operating district

32 ECRA

Figure (5): Distribution of the precentage of complaints by type

Figure (6): Distribution of complaints by SEC operating district

4%Removal

of Substationsand Transformers

Billing & Tariff14%

11%Removal

of overheadlines and

compensation requests

47%Power

Interruptions

13%Connections

32%Southern

25%Western

35%Central

8%Eastern

OtherComplaints

11%

• Efforts by SEC to resolve issues regarding transfer

of overhead lines from private properties.

Complaints arising from this issue decreased in

2011 by 56% compared to the previous year.

• The positive results of application of regulatory

instruments, such as the Service Provision Manual,

adopted by ECRA to protect consumers and

service providers. This process provided better

control of complaints and enhanced SEC’s ability

to resolve them in accordance with the provisions

of the Manual, thus reducing complaints regarding

billings and electricity meters malfunctioning.

The category of complaints shown as “Others”

in Table (1) includes requests to establish

emergency centers in various locations, requests for

compensations for damages or injuries resulting from

electrical shocks, complaints of trenching in the

vicinity of a residence, requests to transfer electricity

service from one location to another, and various

other sundry issues.

Figure (5) shows distribution of the percentage of

complaints by type. Complaints regarding service

interruptions and service connections represent

around 50% of the complaints received by ECRA

during the year.

LookingatcomplaintsclassifiedbySECoperating

district (Figure 6), it is noted that most of the

complaints came from the Central Operating District

(35% of all complaints) and the Southern Operating

District (32%). Most of the complaints from the

Central Operating District can be attributed to power

interruptions arising out of two causes:


• Cable ruptures in Hayil and some areas in

Riyadh.

• Weather conditions which damaged overhead

lines in some of the counties of the Riyadh

Province.

The complaints in the Southern Operating District

are attributable to a number of causes, chief among

which are:

• Power disruptions in Jazan Province, and in

Mahayil-Asir and Bisha Counties.

• Requests for service connection, removal of

overhead lines, and compensations. These

requests still represent a substantial element of

complaints.

In the Western Operating District most complaints

were caused by power disruptions in the Ola,

Tarabah, and Raniyah Counties, as well as some

parts of Makkah and Madinah Provinces. They also

included complaints regarding service connections

by owners of residential units who do not hold titles

to them.

9- Electricity Connection to Farms, Villages,

Hamlets, and Settlements

In previous years a committee was formed with

members from the Ministry of Water and Electricity,

ECRA, and SEC to update the implementation plan

of extending the electricity service to all approved

farms, villages, hamlets and settlements throughout

the Kingdom. The implementation is to be carried

outwithintheabilityofSECforself-financing.

The Committee adopted certain rules to govern

preparation of the plan for the connection process.

During the report year the committee continued

updating of the plan in accordance with the rules

which it had established.

34 ECRA

Tariffs

Among ECRA’s primary concerns are that tariffs

mustbecostreflective,fairandaffordableto

end-users; that their structure must be easy to

implement, and that income collected by the

electricity industry in accordance with these tariffs

must meet its’ revenue requirements. In order to

achieve these objectives ECRA’s responsibilities

include the following:

• Developing a methodology for tariff setting and

for periodic review of the adopted tariffs.

• Designing and preparing a tariff structure.

• Developing an overall tariff policy statement for

the Kingdom.

• Developing a comprehensive system to collect

financialandoperationaldatafromallservice

providers in the Kingdom.

• Developing a comprehensive cost accounting

system in order to assess service providers

costs which ultimately affect the tariff paid by

consumers.

Ontheotherhand,theefficientuseoftheavailable

energy sources, depletion of resources and

protection of the environment, as well as economic

factors require that all countries must embrace

policies which are sustainable for the future. Thus,

ECRA is keen that the tariffs in the Kingdom must

reflectthoseconcernsbyprovidingconsumers

with incentives to improve their utilization of the

electricity system, and apply conservation measures

that reduce their costs while at the same time they

improvetheefficiencyofthepowersystem.

ECRA’s tariff activities in 2011 were as follows:

1- Service Connection to the Distribution Network

- Setting Charges According to Breaker Capacity

On 20/9/1431AH (30/8/2010) the Council of

Ministers issued CMD 324 which mandated

standardization of the distribution voltage in the

Kingdom to be in line with the international voltage

standard of (230/400V). Within the framework of

ECRA’s regulatory responsibilities as assigned to

it by CMD 324, the Authority adopted a decision

to set the service connection charges to be based


on the breaker capacity in kVA instead of the

previously applied system which was based

on breaker size measured in Amps. Thus the

decision binds the connection tariff to the user

requirements for installed capacity and not to the

breaker current carrying capacity (in Amps) which

permits constructing the tariff on a fair basis among

consumers. This also allows the service providers

to vary breaker capacities based on their Ampere

ratings and supply them in accordance with the

consumers’ requirements.

An important consequence of this decision has been

reducing the costs of connection at the new voltage

of (230/400 V) by about 9% for most consumers.

2- Time-of-Use Tariff for Non-Residential

Consumers

One of the important uses of the tariff is to serve as

an instrument to support stability of the electricity

service, supplying it to consumers with high quality

and reliability, and encouraging savings and load

management. This is achieved by designing the tariff

so that it includes incentives for load management

and load shifting through the use of a tariff which

changes with the time of use (either peak demand

time during the day, or according to the season of

the year). It also includes mechanisms to incentivize

the consumer for proactive interaction with the

serviceproviderfortheirmutualbenefits.

The tariff can also serve as an instrument to increase

efficiencyofutilizationoftheelectricalsystem

by giving consumers incentives to improve their

power factor. Such incentives encourage consumers

to produce reactive power locally at their sites,

reducing the current transmitted through the

network. The reduction in the current transmitted

leads to savings in network capacity and reduces

the need for expansions of generation capacities,

switching equipment, and transmission and

distribution lines. This approach is used in most

countries.

In this connection, SEC completed in 2011 a

pilot project designed to test application of rules

to govern improvement of the power factor for

non-residential consumption (i.e., government,

commercial, and industrial consumptions). The

Authorityreviewedthefinalresultsoftheproject,

and at the end of 2011 was considering applying

the rules on an experimental basis for a year so that

consumers can evaluate the effects of these rules

on their consumption and thus take appropriate

measures if necessary to improve the power factor.

ThereaftertheAuthoritywillmakeafinalassessment

of the results of the project and prepare a tariff to be

implemented by the service provider.

3- Electricity Industry Data and Tariff

Computations Program

The program enables the Authority to obtain data

electronically from the licensees which is accurate

and up-to-date. This permits interested parties in the

electricity industry (including investors, researchers

and consumers) to obtain the data they need.

The program was built of independent modular units

for each electricity industry activity, i.e., generation,

transmission, or distribution. Each unit is capable of

being developed further and updated at any time by

adding new elements or eliminating older elements

36 ECRA

ifneeded,andtoinsurethecollectionandflowof

data on a regular basis. Authorized personnel from the

licensees can access the system and update data related

to their business either monthly or annually, depending

onthenatureofthedata(eithertechnicalorfinancial).

Theprogramperformsinitialdataverification.The

Authoritystaffundertakesfinalreviewofthedata,after

which it becomes available for analysis, writing reports,

and making charts and graphs according to the required

classification.Theprogramcanproducevariousreports

for the interested parties. The Authority, however, retains

therighttowithholdanyconfidentialdatathatmayhave

an impact on competitiveness.

At the end of 2010 the Authority commenced actual

implementation of the program. In 2011 it continued

receiving data regularly from the licensees, reviewing

and verifying it, and subsequently adding it to the

database. By the end of 2011 about 70% of the basic

data and about 50% of the operations data were entered

into the database. The Authority is working in earnest

with the licensees to complete all data entries by the end

ofthefirstquarterof2012.

Tomaximizebenefitsderivedfromthedatabase

program, and expand the user base to include various

government agencies ECRA signed during the year a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry

of Water and Electricity covering exchange of electricity

industry data available from the program.

4- Classification of Saudi Aramco Electricity Meters

Formanyyearsclassificationoftheelectricitymeters

was a subject of contention between Saudi Aramco and

SEC. Saudi Aramco maintained that all of its electricity

consumption falls under the “industrial consumption”

tariff category, while SEC’s position was that not all of

Saudi Aramco’s consumption falls under that class, and

that in fact for tariff purposes the consumption falls

into three categories: “industrial”, “residential”, and

“commercial”.

CMD 114 issued on 10/4/1430AH (6/4/2009) dictated

treatment of Aramco loads in accordance with the

nature of consumption. The CMD assigned to ECRA

the responsibility to determine; 1) the Saudi Aramco

facilities that are of a residential or commercial nature,

and thus do not qualify for the industrial consumption

tariff, and 2) which entity is responsible for the

construction and maintenance of the distribution

network serving Saudi Aramco’s facilities. The decision

thus set the mechanism for settlement with SEC of

payment shortfalls incurred by Saudi Aramco throughout

the years of the dispute.

Pursuant to this responsibility the Authority, during

the reporting year, formed a working group from the

two organizations to list electricity meters in all Saudi

Aramco sites and classify them according to the type

of consumption. The team listed 680 meters. The two

partiesagreedontheclassificationof422ofthese

meters.

After reviewing reports of the working group, the

Authoritymadearulingregardingclassificationofthe

remaining meters in conformity with the rules and

regulations governing electricity consumption tariff and

the aforementioned CMD 114.


Codes and Regulations

During the report year the Authority continued work

on a number of codes and regulations as follows:

1- Saudi Electricity Transmission Code

In 2007 ECRA issued the “Saudi Transmission Code”

which outlines the responsibilities of all users and

licensees of the electricity transmission system.

The code prescribes the methods of operation and

maintenance of the transmission system including

the main technical components and equipment

related to metering and connection to the system. It

alsospecifiestheplanningrequirements.

In 2011 certain articles of the code were amended,

anditstitlewasmodifiedtothe“SaudiElectricity

Transmission Code”.

2- Seawater Desalination Code

In its effort to establish the legal framework for

the water desalination industry and issue the set

of codes, rules, and regulations that are required

to regulate this industry; the Authority signed a

contract with a specialized international consulting

firmtodraftaseawaterdesalinationcode.Thecode

was aimed at covering all aspects of the industry,

including production, dispatch, and transportation.

ECRA reviewed all the legal and technical aspects of

thedraftcode,preparedbytheconsultingfirm,with

all relevant participants in the industry. After review,

the code was approved by ECRA’s Board of Directors

in 2011.

The Seawater Desalination Code provides clear

guidelines which all concerned parties must adhere

to in order to achieve the following:

• Increase reliability of desalinated water supplies.

• Compliance of produced desalinated water with

the approved standards.

• Highoperationalefficiency.

• Fair competition that attracts investments in this

industry.

• Low cost of desalinated water production.

3- Charges for Use of Transmission System

Charges for use of the transmission system represent

the price charged by the owner of the transmission

system from its users in order to permit them to

transmit electricity from the generation plants to the

distribution system. During the report year ECRA

signed a contract with an experienced international

consultingfirmtodesignastructuretodetermine

charges for use of the transmission network. Design

of the structure was completed in 2011. During the

coming two years (2012-2013) ECRA intends to

start using it on experimental basis and insure the

readiness of all requirements for deployment such as

installationofdigitalmeters,andmodificationofthe

billing system, to be followed by full deployment in

2014.

38 ECRA

4- Supervision of Codes and Regulations:

a) Saudi Electricity Transmission Code Supervisory

Committee

The supervisory committee for the transmission code

consists of members from several relevant parties. It

holds its meetings on a quarterly basis. In the four

meetings of the report year the committee completed

the following tasks:

• Formed two subcommittees: one for exemption

of generation activity of SEC, and the other to

review the degree of licensees’ compliance with

the code.

• Received 118 requests from code users for

exemption from some of the provisions or for

theirmodification.TheCommitteereviewedthe

requests and submitted its recommendations to

ECRA.

• Developed and updated its website which

includes minutes of its meetings, its decisions,

ECRA’s actions on these decisions, and the

committee’s annual reports.

b) Saudi Electricity Distribution Code Supervisory

Committee

The supervisory committee for the distribution code

consists of members from several relevant parties. It

holds its meetings on a quarterly basis. In the four

meetings of the report year the committee completed

the following tasks:

• Prepared the committee’s manual.

• Developedrequestformsformodificationsor

exemptions.

• Held three workshops to introduce the code to

workersinthefield.

• Received 16 requests from code users for

exemptions from some of its provisions or for

theirmodification.TheCommitteereviewedthe

requests and submitted its recommendations to

ECRA.


Licensing

The Electricity Law and the Charter of the Authority

require that any person engaged in any of the

following activities has a valid license issued by the

Authority in order to legally conduct his activities in

Saudi Arabia:

• Generation, transmission, distribution, trading,

retail, export or import of electricity;

• Cogeneration or trading in cogeneration

products; and

• Water desalination, its transportation to the

points of distribution, or trading in desalinated

water.

The objectives of the licensing process are to

streamline the development of the electricity

and water desalination industry and monitor the

quality and reliability of the services which are of

paramount importance to the consumers as well as

to the national economy as a whole.

The Authority issues licenses and monitors licensees’

performance, and takes appropriate measures to

enforce the provisions of the Electricity Law on

violators of the license conditions and requirements

to protect public interest.

The Authority also requires licensees to comply

with technical, legal, and environmental protection

requirements.

The licensing framework covers requirements and

conditions for each type of license, details of rights,

duties and obligations of licensees, and details

of monitoring procedures. The Electricity Law

and its Implementing Regulations require that all

procedures and the basis of monetary charges be as

transparent as possible.

ECRA’s website contains forms to request

authorizations and licenses for activities in electricity

generation, transmission, retailing, trading and

distribution; as well as activities in cogeneration

and water desalination and its transportation to

the distribution points. The website also includes

a listing of all licenses issued by the Authority, and

the rules adopted by ECRA’s Board of Directors for

calculating license fees.

In 2011 the Authority completed the following tasks

in the area of licensing:

1- Authorizations

In pursuit of its objectives to encourage investment

in the electricity and water desalination industry, the

Authority issues authorizations permits to interested

parties to allow them to commence preliminary

preparation work (including feasibility studies,

planning, and technical investigations) before they

start actual activities.

In 2011 the Authority issued nine permits distributed

as follows (Table A1-1, Page 94):

- Eight authorizations for electricity cogeneration.

- One authorization for electricity generation

from mobile units.

These permits were issued to nine entities.

40 ECRA

2- Licenses

Licenses are issued at least 30 days before

construction commences. In 2011 the Authority

issued, or reissued (renewed) 35 licenses (Table A1-

2, Page 95) as follows:

• eleven licenses for electricity generation.

• two licenses for electricity transmission.

• one license to own an electricity transmission

network.

• two licenses for electricity distribution and

retailing.

• nine licenses for cogeneration.

• four licenses for water desalination.

• two licenses for trading in electricity.

• three licenses for trading in desalinated water.

• one license for transportation of desalinated

water.

These licenses were issued to 27 entities.

3- Exemptions from Licensing

TheElectricityLawspecifiesthatnopersonmay

undertake any electricity activity without a valid

license from the Authority. The Implementing

Regulations of the Law allow for exempting a

licensee from the licensing requirement if the

generation plant is not connected to a transmission

network or a distribution network and all its output

is exclusively used by the owner of the plant. The

exemption also applies to a transmission network

and a distribution network under similar conditions.

By the end of 2011 ECRA issued, or renewed 12

exemptions from licensing (Table A1-3, Page 98) as

follows:

• nine exemptions for generation plants.

• one exemption for a desalination plant.

• two exemptions for cogeneration plants.

These exemptions were issued to twelve entities.

4- License Forms

In2011thefinalversionofthePrincipalBuyer

license was completed. It will be submitted to

ECRA’s Board in 2012 for approval. The Authority

also completed in 2011 preparation of the permit to

study construction of mobile electricity generation

units.


Electricity and Desalinated Water Industry Plans

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Generation(SEC)

Transmission

Distribution

Consumers

Generation(SWCC)

Generation(Other Entities)

Figure (7):Current organizational structure of the electricity

industry in the Kingdom.

During 2011 ECRA’s activities included

work on the following plans for the

electricity and water desalination industry.

1- Electricity Industry

Restructuring Plan

The electricity industry restructuring plan

approved by ECRA’s Board outlines the major

steps for unbundling the main activities of the

industry (i.e., generation, transmission, and

distribution) and moving it from the current

vertically integrated structure (Figure 7) into an

environment of competitiveness on an economic

basis through the following steps:

• Creation of an independent transmission

company that maintains an open and unbiased

policy of access to the transmission system

for use by all producers and large consumers

without discrimination.

• Creating a special entity known as the “Principal

Buyer”, to manage the electricity industry

income, and enter into clear and transparent

contracts with all service providers (in the areas

of generation, transmission, and distribution),

which are reviewed and approved by ECRA. The

Principal Buyer is responsible for overseeing that

all parties abide by the contracts.

• Design a clear, transparent, and fair electricity

“wheeling” tariff for the transmission system.

• Creation of several competing entities in the

fieldofgeneration.

• Introducing competition in wholesale electricity

services to the distribution companies and large

consumers.

• In the long run, introduce competition in the

fieldofdistributionandservicetoconsumers.

Figure (8): shows the organization structure of the

industryinthefirstphaseofimplementationofthe

plan.

In 2011 ECRA continued discussion with SEC

regarding the plan’s implementation timetable. The

following milestones were achieved:

• The process of establishing the National

Electricity Transmission Company (NETC), a

limited joint stock company wholly owned by

SEC (the Holding Company), continued. NETC

pursued building its organizational infrastructure

in preparation for commencing its activities at

the start of 2012.

42 ECRA

Figure (8):Structure of the electricity industry after completion of Phase I of the restructuring plan

Consumers ConsumersConsumers

IndependentGeneration




GenerationCompany

GenerationCompany

Transmission

GenerationCompany


Cogeneration Cogeneration

Cogeneration

Cogeneration

Cogeneration

DistributionCompany

DistributionCompany

DistributionCompany

• SEC pledged to establish a special unit within the

holding company to undertake the responsibility

of the Principal Buyer. This unit is expected to start

its activities in 2012.

• The Authority and SEC agreed on the

establishment, during 2012, of several generation

companies, wholly owned by SEC. These

companies are expected to commence operations

before the end of 2013.

• SEC has also pledged to establish during 2012

a distribution company that will go into actual

operation at the beginning of 2013.

• The Authority has formulated a structure for the

charges to use the transmission system which will

be tested in the coming two years (2012-2013).

Ultimately after the restructuring plan is fully

implemented there will be several companies

competing in generation, and several distributors

and service providers (Figure 9). There will also

be a spot market for electricity trading as well as

a parallel market for bilateral supply and trading

in electrical energy. It is hoped that successful

execution of all elements of the plan will lead

to creation of a competitive market for electrical

services where selling and buying are governed by

the free market rules of supply and demand.

SEC


SEC

Cogeneration

DistributionCompany

ServiceProvider

ServiceProvider

ServiceProvider

ServiceProvider

ConsumersConsumersConsumersConsumersConsumers

DistributionCompany

DistributionCompany

Principal Buyer

Transmission

SEC

GenerationCompany

GenerationCompany

GenerationCompany






Cogeneration Cogeneration Cogeneration

Figure (9):Electricity industry structure after full implementation of the plan

ConsumersConsumers

2- Long Range Plan for Electricity

This plan was prepared by the Research Institute

of King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

(KFUPM-RI), together with an international

consultant.

The plan took into account the restructuring plan

underway, and grid interconnection with the GCC

countries, as well as the available types of fuel for

electricity generation.

In predicting demand; minimum, maximum, and

likely growth in demand, population increases,

economic growth, and the weightings of industrial,

commercial and residential consumptions were

considered.

Development of the plan was based on the

development plans for expansion of the generation

plants in SEC’s Eastern, Central, Western, and

Southern Operations Districts. Plans were also

developed for the isolated areas. Standards were

formulated for generation that include expansion,

type and availability of fuel, type and size of

generation units, technical and operational

specifications,andexpectedlifetimeoftheexisting

and proposed units.

Based on the generation plan, the transmission

system plan was developed. Capacities of the

transmission networks were determined to deliver

energy from the generation plants to the distribution

centers. The plan also included a schedule to

synchronize expansion of transmission with

44 ECRA

expansion in generation along with investment

requirements to meet demand for electricity

throughout the plan years.

3- Development of Long Range Plan for Water

Desalination

Reports for the past three years have indicated

that concurrent with signing of the contract for the

electricity generation plan, a contract was signed

with the King Abdullah Research Institute of King

Saud University, in association with a specialized

firm,todeveloptheplanforwaterdesalination.

During 2011 work on the study continued.

The study involves projection forecasts for the

needed desalinated water in the Kingdom over the

next 25 years. It will include an estimate of the split

between desalination and aquifer production.

With respect to desalination, the plan will

determine the amount of desalinated water

produced by cogeneration as well as other methods,

primarily reverse osmosis (RO).

It will also include determination of the amount

of electricity produced in the cogeneration plants

so as to include this contribution in the long range

plan for electricity generation and transmission.

Furthermore, the study will take into consideration

economic parameters, population distribution,

location of plants, aquifer data, and other factors.

The study is being carried out with the collaboration

of MoWE, ECRA, SWCC, and SEC.

4- Electricity and Water Desalination Industry Data

TheAuthorityistheofficialcustodianandlocusof

the National Electricity Register which contains all

data related to the electricity and water desalination

industry. The Register contains full text of licenses,

decisions, laws, codes, standards, generation

capacities, installed capacities, electricity and water

desalination plans, demand forecasts, and other

data.

As part of its services, ECRA offers access to the

information available in the register to members

of the general public, government and private

organizations, service providers, investors, and

other parties interested in this industry.

In this connection, during the report year the

Authority provided information to several

government agencies. The Ministry of Petroleum and

Mineral Resources was provided with information

regarding heat radiation by the electrical network

for a study being undertaken by the ministry; while

the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable

Energy (KACARE) received information regarding

development of renewable energy strategy.


Standards, Quality of Service, and Performance Monitoring

One of ECRA’s main responsibilities is monitoring

the performance of licensees to insure achieving the

following objectives:

• Adequacy of supply of electricity and desalinated

water.

• Reliability and quality of services.

• Compliance with the electricity law, and conditions

and requirements of the licenses to protect the

public interest.

• Responding in a reasonable time span to consumers’

complaints.

• Reducing the number and extent of service

interruptions.

• Expeditious restoration of service when interruptions

do occur, and

• Continual investment to provide service to new

customers.

In order to achieve these goals the Authority prepares

key performance indicators (KPIs) and standards for

every electricity activity which all service providers must

meet at a minimum. Financial incentives are provided

to service providers whose performance exceeds the set

standards,whilefinancialpenaltiesareassessedfrom

those who underperform them.

The Authority, in consultation with the licensees,

issues codes for connections and codes for use of the

transmission and distribution networks. These codes,

which all users of the networks must comply with,

containspecificandclearrulesandproceduresderived

from technical and operational requirements of the

networks to insure their safety, integrity, and protection.

In 2011 the Authority’s performed the following

activities in the area of standards, quality of service, and

performance monitoring:

1- Licensees’ KPIs

KPIs enable the Authority to monitor performance of the

entities working in the areas of electricity generation,

transmission, distribution and consumer services as

well as to determine the performance level that must

be achieved by the electricity industry in future to reach

standards comparable to those of the industrialized

nations. Twenty six KPIs were selected for the various

activities of the electricity industry (i.e., generation,

transmission, distribution, and consumer services).

In 2011 the Authority adopted the “KPIs Manual for the

ElectricityIndustryMarket“,andthe“DataVerification

Manual”. In the same year the Authority also audited

performanceKPIsatthebranchleveloffivelicensees,

visited 24 sites (Table 2), and prepared reports of the

audits which were sent to the licensees and published in

the ECRA website.

The auditing results varied between the licensees.

Some of the KPIs were of good and acceptable quality,

and some showed that they would require further

improvements. Still some of the KPIs were incorrect

due to being misunderstood by some of the licensees,

or due to lack of data records to refer to, or some other

hindrances.

Table (3) shows some KPIs for the various activities of

the electricity industry. In the auditing reports sent to

the licensees, they were apprised of recommendations

made to improve the KPIs measurement process. In the

coming years, ECRA will review compliance with these

recommendations and insure implementation during the

annual auditing stage.

46 ECRA

The KPI calculations also showed a great deal of

variation of the level of service between the regions.

While certain levels for some KPIs were achieved

in a region, in other regions the same KPIs came

below the desired levels. SEC was duly informed of

these results and was requested to submit proposed

measures to improve the KPIs in the regions with

substandard levels.

* Availability: Percentage of time when the unit is available for service.

Table (2): Sites where KPIs were audited

Serial Licensee – ActivityNumberof Sites

1Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) –

Generation4


Transmission2


Distribution4


Subscribers Services4

5 Marafiq–Generation 1

6 Marafiq–Transmission 1

7 Marafiq–Distribution 1

8 Marafiq–SubscribersServices 1

9 Saudi Aramco 2

10Saline Water Conversion Corporation

(SWCC)2

11 Water & Electricity Company (WEC) 2

Total 24

Table (3): Some KPIs for the various activities

ActivityKPI

LicenseeName of KPI Level Targeted Level Achieved

Generation Availability* 85%

92% Saudi Aramco (Qatif Plant)

98% Saudi Aramco

86.9% Jubail Power & Water Company

97.5%Rabigh Water & Electricity

Company94.8% WEC – Shuaibah Plant

86% SEC – Quraiyah Plant

83%SEC – Rabigh (Steam generation

units)

92%SEC – Rabigh (Combined cycle

units)

TransmissionCoefficientofpower

unavailability0,0008

0.0022 SEC

0.0079 Marafiq

Distribution

Average time of power disruption per customer

per year150 minutes

196.9 minutes SEC

170.9 minutes Marafiq

Average number of power disruptions per customer

per year2

5.21 SEC

1.8 Marafiq


2- Financial and Accounting KPIs for SEC

One of ECRA’s responsibilities is to enable the

licenseestooperateefficientlyinordertorecover

their expenses and realize reasonable returns on the

invested capital in the regulated activities. Based

on this charge ECRA developed a mathematical

modeltocalculatethelicenseesfinancialKPIsthat

should be monitored. Chief among these KPIs are

the following:

• Profitabilitymeasures.

• Abilitytosecurefinancing.

• Average loan expense coverage.

• Measures of debt collection.

The objective of measurement of the licensees’

financialperformanceistoparticipateindeveloping

toolstofacilitatecomparingtheirfinancial

performance with that achieved by regional and

international entities that work in comparable

environments. The measurement also aims at

proposing suitable remedial measures that the

licensees must undertake to minimize their costs

and increase the quality of their services to the

consumerswithoutdegradingtheirfinancial

positions or affecting their fair returns.

During the year under consideration ECRA pursued

with SEC implementation of the requirements

ofthemathematicalmodelandsetthefinancial

performance KPIs for the company.

3- Development of Electricity Demand-Side

Management Program

In the past few years electrical peak loads in the

Kingdom grew at a rate of 8% per annum. This rapid

growth rate is attributed to several factors:

• Growth of the population and the economy.

• Growth of per capita consumption of electricity.

• Lack of use of thermal insulation in buildings.

• Lowefficiencyofelectricalequipmentused

in the Kingdom, especially air-conditioning

equipment which represents the largest

component of electricity consumption.

The load growth presents a challenge to the

Kingdom’s electricity industry to raise huge amounts

of capital, ranging between SR20 billion and SR40

billion annually in order to build the generation

capacities, and the transmission and distribution

networks that are required to meet this growth.

The Kingdom’s electricity system can meet the

growth of electricity loads in one of two ways:

• Expansion of the system by building new

generation plants, and new transmission and

distribution networks, or

• Reduce demand for electric power, and

minimizewasteduetoinefficientuseof

electricity. This approach is known as “Demand-

Side Management” (DSM).

Studies by the Authority indicated that DSM

programs are the least expensive and most

economical approach compared to the costs of

expansion.

In 2011 the Authority prepared a feasibility study

on DSM which showed that this approach depends

on two main components: “load shifting at times of

peakdemand”programs,and“energyefficiency”

programs.

48 ECRA

The load shifting programs seek to reduce the electricity

loads at the time of peak demand which require

generation capacities that run less than 10% of the

time per year. If these loads are shifted to a non-

peak demand time this action will lead to increased

utilization of the installed generation units thus

reducing the costs to the service providers and the

consumers.

The DSM study included recommendations to

implement two groups of programs:

1- The “Electrical Load Shifting” programs group:

The electrical load shifting group consists of three

programs:

• Direct control of air-conditioning units (load

curtailment).

• Incentive tariff to reduce loads.

• Interruptible loads tariff.

2- The “Energy Efficiency” programs group:

Theenergyefficiencygroupconsistsoftwoprograms:

• Increasingefficiencyoftheair-conditioning

equipment.

• Implementingthebuildingefficiencystandards(i.e.,

usingthermalinsulation,andusinghighefficiency

air-conditioning and other electrical equipment).

The study showed that by implementing these programs

more than 2,200MW of installed generation capacity

can be saved during the next ten years, thus leading to

huge savings of more than SR76 billion. The savings

result from the following:

• SR14.3 billion which would have been spent to

build new generation plants.

• SR46.3 billion the additional cost of fuels,

calculated at international market prices, which

those plants would have used.

• SR10.8 billion the costs of operation and

maintenance of those plants plus the cost of their

fuels calculated at the subsidized price.

• SR5 billion the costs of the transmission and

distribution networks which those plants would

have required.

On the other hand the costs of implementing the load

managementandenergyefficiencyprogramsare

estimated to be around SR27 billion. Figure 10 shows

comparison between the costs of implementing the

electricity demand-side management programs and the

savings that can be realized from this action over a ten

year timespan.


0

10

60

20

70

30

80

40

90

50

Additional incomeresulting from selling fuel at

international prices

Transmission and Distribution network costs

Generation costs

Fuel costs (subsidized) + Operation and Maintenance costs

4- Standardization of Distribution Voltage

From the very beginning of the introduction of electricity

services in the Kingdom, the distribution voltage varied

between the various regions of the country. In some

regions a 110/220V system was used, and in other

regions the 220/400V system was used, while in some

other regions both systems were used. This situation

undoubtedly posed danger to the consumers, and may

havecausedfiresanddamagestoelectricalinstruments

and equipment.

On 20/9/1431AH (30/8/2010) CMD Number 324 was

issued which mandated that a uniform distribution voltage

of 230/400V shall be used throughout the country.

The CMD included a timetable for implementation

which stipulated that connection of electricity to

new constructions at the new voltage shall be made

immediately, while existing structures will have a grace

periodoftenyears,afterwhichretrofittingtothenew

system will be achieved gradually so that the entire

country will have a uniform distribution voltage by the end

ofafifteenyearperiodfromthestartoftheprogram.SEC

willundertaketheretrofittingatnocosttotheconsumers.

The change to a uniform distribution voltage system

undoubtedly will lead to the following enhancements of

the electrical services:

• Improvetheefficiencyofequipment.

• Decrease the distribution network losses.

• Increase the number of customers that can be served

from a distribution station.

• Improve safety.

• Support local industry as it will not be forced to

produce equipment that works on two voltage

systems, or have two production lines: one for

equipment using 110V and the other for equipment

using 230V.

During the report year the Authority participated

in the work of the committee formed by the

Ministry of Water and Electricity to oversee a public

relations campaign to disseminate information to

the Kingdom’s population about the importance of

the voltage change, the reasons for making it, the

mechanism of its implementation, and the timetable

for achieving it.

Figure (10): Comparison of the expected savings over a ten year period as a result of implementing the “Electricity Load Shifting” and the “Energy Efficiency” programs with their costs

Costs of Load Shifting

Costs Savings

Costs of implementingenergy efficiency

Programs

Am

ount

s(B

illio

n SR

)

50 ECRA

Electronic Management and IT

ECRA’s activities in the area of electronic management

and IT in 2011 were as follows:

1- E-Management

During 2011 ECRA continued development of IT

applications needed by its administrative support

operationssuchasfinancialaffairs,purchasing,

personnel, licensing, and administrative communications.

During the year it also:

• started actual utilization of the Electricity Industry

Data Program*,

• signed a contract with an international consulting

firmtobuildaspecialprogramdedicatedto

consumer care**,

• connected to the government GSN channel

operated by the e-Government transactions and

services program (Yesser) in order to authenticate

the identities of complainers prior to processing their

complaints,

• communicated with the National Center for Digital

Certificationinordertobelicensedasaproviderof

governmentdigitalcertificationservices,andstarted

preparations of the prerequisites for this process.

According to Yesser, ECRA achieved a level of 72.89%

transformation in electronic transactions during the

year, and a cumulative index of 54.15% in the overall

transformation process.

2- ECRA’s Website

In 2011 ECRA continued development of its

website***and updating its data. The development

included the following:

• Establishing a link to the database which contains

the data of the entities that are licensed, the entities

that obtained permits to study projects which they

contemplate undertaking in the areas of electricity

and water desalination, or the entities exempted

from licensing.

• Development of forms to update company data

through the website.

• Creating a webpage to seek views of the general

public on subjects under consideration by ECRA.

• Connecting the National Electricity Register on the

website with the database management system of

ECRA in order to automatically update the Register.

Appendix (2) contains a listing of documents and

information available on ECRA’s website that may be of

interest to consumers, investors, and anyone interested in

the electricity and water desalination industry.

3- Oracle Program

During the year the Authority offered a training program

to its entire staff on the purchasing module of the Oracle

program so that an employee can prepare a purchase

order without assistance from the staff of the purchasing

unit. It has also started a training program for the IT staff

on support for the Oracle program which is the backbone

oftheHR,payroll,finance,purchasing,consumercare,

and licensing systems.

* See page 35 “Electricity Industry Data and Tariff Computations Program”

** See page 30 “Management of Complaints System”

*** www.ecra.gov.sa


Other Activities

In addition to activities in its main areas of responsibility,

ECRA performed the following tasks in 2011:

1- Electricity Bill Payment Assistance to Recipients of

Social Security Benefits *

Electricity service is considered one of the basic services

for a society. Governments in many countries provide

support for persons of limited income through programs

that supply them with electricity at subsidized prices

which insures continuity of the service.

As part of the Government efforts to enhance quality-of-

life for Saudis, while at the same time encourage prudent

energy use to insure sustainability of the electricity

services, the Authority continued in 2011 to implement

its agreement of cooperation with the Ministry of Social

Affairs to build a database that ties names of recipients

ofsocialsecuritybenefitswiththeirelectricitybills,and

their national ID numbers. This information facilitates the

process of providing the needy with partial assistance for

payment of the electricity bill. The amount of assistance

given, and the method of giving it were designed on

ascientificandsystematicbasis.Indeterminingthe

amount of assistance several elements were taken

into consideration including: estimate of the monthly

electricity consumption for each family based on the

number of its members, the location of their residence,

and differences in climatic conditions between the

various regions of the Kingdom. Suitable values were

selected based on accurate data which were used to set

these values. The program also included development of

amediacampaigntoeducaterecipientsofthebenefits

about means of energy conservation so that the assistance

given to them does not lead to energy waste and become

a burden on the government or the service provider.

From the date the program was launched on July 23,

2009 till the end of 2011 the number of recipients has

reached241,000beneficiaries.Itisexpectedthatthis

number will eventually reach 500,000.

2- GCC Electricity Interconnection

The GCC ** states established an organization to build

and operate an electricity interconnection system to

enableeachstatetoincreasetheefficiencyofoperation

and the security of supply of its system, reduce costs that

arise from the ability to share in operational reserves and

production capacities, and facilitate inter-states free trade

of excess capacity.

In 2011 connections between Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,

Bahrain, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates were

completed. ECRA continued during the year its

participation in the advisory and regulatory committee of

the Gulf Interconnection Authority which manages the

system.

* RecipientsofthesocialsecuritysystembenefitsintheKingdomarethelowincomefamiliesandincludeorphans,widowedor divorced women, families of persons in the penal system, and those without a provider. At the time of the report this group numbered around 700,000 recipients, representing about 13% of residential electricity consumers.

** The members of the Arabian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are: the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the State of Kuwait.

52 ECRA

3- Saudi Arabia-Egypt Electricity Interconnection

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab

Republic of Egypt started several years ago a

study and preparation for the interconnection of

their electricity networks. Over two years ago the

feasibility study of the project was completed. A

marine survey of the proposed route in the Gulf of

Aqaba was completed recently.

The two countries formed a team to work, in

participation with specialized international

consultingfirms,onthedraftandreviewoflegal,

commercial, and technical agreements for the

interconnection. ECRA is a member of this work

team.

4- The Annual Electricity Statistical Booklet

In 2011 ECRA issued the third edition of the Annual

Electricity Industry Statistical booklet. The booklet

contains data and statistical indicators for the

electricity and water desalination industry for the

year 2010 including comparisons with previous

years. These data and indicators make it possible

for all local, regional, and international parties

concerned to obtain accurate and updated data

about the electricity and water desalination industry

and its development in the Kingdom.


Human Resources and Finances

1- Human Resources

By its very nature, the Authority is a very small

organization. For that reason it has adopted a policy

of running its business with a set of human resources

consisting of the following:

• A nucleus of highly specialized and highly

educated individuals with a wide experience

and thorough knowledge of the electricity

industry and regulatory affairs.

• A cadre of administrative and technical staff to

support the expert group.

• A continually changing group of consultants

(both individuals and organizations) determined

by the nature of the task under consideration.

This arrangement insures that in every case the

Authority receives the best available expertise,

whenever it is needed, at the lowest overall cost,

as payment for the expertise is limited to the

time of need without the necessity of permanent

employment.

Table (4) shows the distribution of the staff in 2011

according to their specialties. They are all Saudi

nationals.

2- Training and Manpower Development

ECRA is particularly conscious of human resource

development and is proactive in providing

development opportunities for employees. On

joining the organization, all employees undergo a

one week training/induction course. An important

resource in this context is the ECRA “Employee

Manual” which contains all the important elements

of ECRA operations and practices. Selection of

the training program depends on the nature of

the employee’s job, and the program is executed

according to a systematic plan that indicates his

actual training needs.

During 2011, 32 employees participated in 37 short

training courses in the Kingdom and abroad. Seven

training programs were held on ECRA’s premises

and were attended by 52 employees. Two additional

employees were sent abroad for training programs

of long duration to bring their total number to

seven. The Authority also offered scholarships to

27 employees to pursue high school education,

undergraduate studies at Saudi universities, and

graduate studies leading to master’s degrees at Saudi

and foreign universities. Table (4): Distribution of employees in

2011 by job specialty

Specialty Number

Technical 16

Administrative and Clerical 66

Support 10

Engineering 10

Legal 7

Financial 7

Economics 2

Total 118

54 ECRA

3- Financial Data

ThefinancialresourcesoftheAuthorityconsistof

the licensing remuneration, payments received for

services rendered to service providers and others,

andfinesleviedfromviolators.

The licensing remuneration is set by rules adopted

by the Board of the Authority.

The rules were established on the basis of collecting

sufficientfundstocovertheannualfinancialneeds

of the Authority.

They take into consideration the nature of work of

the licensee (cogeneration, generation of electricity,

its transmission, distribution, or trading; and water

desalination, its transportation, or trading), the

relativecontributionofeachactivitytothefinancing

of the Authority, and the size of the licensee’s

activity.

Table (5) shows comparisons of the Authority’s

income in 2011 with those of the previous year

while Table (6) shows the comparisons of its

expenditures.


Table (5): Revenue comparison for 2011 with the previous year(Amounts in thousands of Saudi Riyals)

Source 2011 2010

Saudi Electricity Co. 80,489 82,152

Saline Water Conversion Corp. 9,666 10,444

Tihamah Energy Generation Ltd. Co. 760 856

Saudi Aramco 715 809

Rabigh Arabian Water & Electricity Co. 686 117

Jubail Power Co. 169 191

MarafiqElectricityandWaterCo. 816 943

Shuaibah Water and Electricity Co. 2,108 2,531

Shuqaiq Water and Electricity Co. 1,552 -

Jubail Water and Electricity Co. 4,515 2,048

Saudi Cement Co. 160 197

Bawarej International Water Desalination Ltd. Co. 75 93

Power Energy Equipment Rentals 12 -

Shuaibah Expansion Project Co. 225 278

Water and Electricity Ltd. Co. 562 307

Water and Electricity Supply Co. 646 740

Rakaa Energy and Water Co. Ltd. 2 2

General Contracting Co. (Al-Olayyan) 105 85

Abdul Aziz and Abdullah Kanoo Co. 56 20

Taqa Environment and Electrical Energy System Ltd. Co. 60 48

Total 103,380 101,864

56 ECRA

* Data taken from a report of the International Energy Regulators Network (www.iern.net) entitled:

“IERN 1ST DRAFT OF THE REPORT ON THE POWERS AND COMPETENCIES OF REGULATORY AUTHORITIES”.

2011 2010

Approved Actually Spent Approved Actually Spent

Salaries,wagesandbenefits 33,815 33,680 31,798 31,601

Social security 2,630 2,520 2,543 2,505

End of service remuneration 5,180 5,110 2,150 2,148

Health insurance 3,090 2,984 2,594 2,577

Training and scholarships 3,355 3,329 2,660 2,635

Studies and consultations 10,600 10,345 12,653 12,372

Operational expenses 20,510 19,740 22,145 21,564

Capital Expenses 4,200 3,153 25,321 24,131

Allocation for Permanent Headquarters Building

20,000 20,000 - -

Total expenses 103,380 100,861 101,864 99,533

Figure (11) represents a chart that shows comparisons of per capita budget for regulatory authorities in many

countries around the world*. It is obvious from this chart that in Saudi Arabia the per capita share in ECRA’s

budget is among the lowest in the world

Table (6): Comparison of approved budget allocations with

actual expenditures for 2011 with the previous year

(Amounts in thousands of Saudi Riyals)


FIGURE (11): Comparison per capita budget of regulatory authorities of

several countries around the world

The Authority’s charter permits it to retain a reserve equal to twice its expenditures for the preceding year. At

the end of 2011 the accumulated value of the cash reserve held by ECRA reached SR 68,250,299.00.

5 10

Regulatory Authority Budget (€/capita)

15 20

0.945 EURO

2.388 EURO

58 ECRA

Part IIIReport of

The Electricity Industry Dispute Resolution Committee


60 ECRA

Introduction

Dispute resolution is one of the important

responsibilities of ECRA. Disputes include consumer

complaints against service providers as well as

disputes among licensees. In all cases the policy of

ECRA is to resolve the dispute through negotiation

and mediation between the parties. If the mediation

effort does not lead to satisfactory resolution, the

dispute is referred to the Electricity Industry Dispute

Resolution Committee.

In accordance with the Electricity Law, the

Electricity Industry Dispute Resolution Committee

is an entity independent of ECRA, formed by the

Council of Ministers. It consists of six members:

three legal experts, two experts in the electricity

industry,andafinancialexpert.Membershipinthe

committee is for three years, renewable.

Composition of the Committee

On 18/8/1427AH (9/11/2006) the committee was

constituted by CMD 211 as follows:

Dr. Mohammad A. M. Marzoogi Chairman

Dr Samir A. H. Al-Baiyat Member

Mr. Youssef M. A. Al-Mubarak Member

Dr. Anwar H. A. Mufti Member

Mr. Fahad M. S. Al-Issa Member

Dr. Ayoub M. A. Al-Jarbou Member

On 23/5/1430 AH (18/5/2009) the Council of

Ministers by Decision Number 169 renewed

the terms of service for the committee chair

and members for another three years starting on

18/8/1430 AH (9/8/2009).

Charges of the Committee

ArticleThirteenoftheElectricityLawspecifiesthe

charges of the committee to rule on the following:

• Disputes, complaints, and violations arising in

the electricity industry.

• Disputes among and between licensees.

• Disputes between a licensee and one or more

consumers.

• Any violation of the Electricity Law, its

Implementing Regulations, or the Charter of the

Authority.

The committee exercises its charges without

prejudice to any other means of dispute resolution

indicated by the agreements in force between the

parties to the dispute.

It should be noted that although the committee’s

jurisdiction includes ruling on disputes between

ECRA and licensees, the Electricity Law allows for

settling such disputes through arbitration.

Article Fifteen of the Law outlines the penalties

that may be imposed on violators of its Articles,

its Implementing Regulations, or the Charter of

the Authority. Article Fifteen also gives ECRA the

authority to place the activities of any violator under

guardianship, but such action must be submitted

urgently to the committee within a period not

exceeding thirty days.


Modus Operandi of the Committee

The Electricity Law covers certain important aspects

of the modus operandi of the committee. Article

Thirteen states that decisions are taken by a majority

of votes, and in the case of a tie the side with which

the chair votes carries. The article also mandates that

the reasoning for all decisions must be stated, that

decisions must be read in public sessions, that the

committee shall not refrain from making a ruling on

grounds of the absence of textual statements under

the Law covering the dispute at hand, but must in

such cases refer to the common law of the Kingdom.

The Law subjects decisions of the committee to

review by the Court of Grievances. Anyone subject

to a ruling by the committee may appeal the ruling

to the Court of Grievances within sixty days of

thedateheisnotifiedoftheruling.Ifhedoes

notappealwithinthespecifiedperiod,theruling

becomesfinal.

The Law states that the bylaws of the committee

are to be issued by ECRA’s Board. They were

indeed issued as Appendix (1) to the Implementing

Regulations of the Electricity Law pertaining to the

Duties of the Authority by Board Decision Number

3/11/27 on 15/4/1427AH (13/5/2006).

Activities of the Committee

1- Cases Received by the Committee

The Committee considered the cases received

during 2011 as well as cases pending from

the previous year, a total of 126. It decided to

follow a written memorandum form of litigation

whereby each party is provided with copies of

the memoranda and documents submitted by the

other party, and he is then requested to submit his

response prior to the committee session in which

the case is to be considered. During the session

all outstanding issues are addressed and closing

arguments are made.

The cases considered in 2011 were as follows:

a) Cases Pending from 2010

Forty-six cases were pending from 2010. The

committee ruled on all of them except for six

cases which were still under consideration

pending submittal of some documents and other

requirements which had not been met at the end of

the year.

b) Cases Received in 2011

In 2011 the committee received 80 cases. It issued

rulings in 24 of those cases, while some of the

remaining are in advanced stages of adjudication

pending issuance of rulings, and the remaining

group will require some time to complete submittal

of documents and hearing arguments of litigants in

order to reach rulings.

Table (7) shows the status of the cases considered by

the committee in 2011.

62 ECRA

2- Comparison of the Number of Cases Received

by the Committee and the Number of Cases it

Finalized in 2011 with the Previous Year

Table (8) shows a comparison of the number of cases

received by the committee and the number of cases

itfinalizedin2011withthepreviousyear.

Categorization of Cases According to the Requests

they Contained

By analyzing the cases received by the committee in

2010 and 2011 it becomes clear that most involve

requeststhatcanbeclassifiedasshowninTable(9).

Table (7): Cases on the docket of the Committee in 2011

CategoryNumber of Cases

Under review In chamber Closed Total

Violation Related to the Electricity Industry 1 - - 1

Disputes Related to the Electricity Industry 43 18 64 125

Total 44 18 64 126

Table (8): Number of cases received by the

Committee and the number of cases it finalized:

Comparison of 2011 with the previous year

YearNumber of Cases

ReceivedNumber of Cases

Finalized

2010 64 50

2011 80 64

Increase 25% 28%

Table (9): Categorization of cases according to the requests they contained

Type of Request 2010 2011 TOTAL

Payment of rent for using real estate property for electrical equipment 29 26 55

Transfer of a transmission line 19 12 31

Compensation for damages resulting from electrical equipment 10 7 17

Compensation for mental anguish, and physical damages 4 12 16

Compensation for lands allocated by eminent domain action as right of way or paths for electrical equipment

7 4 11

Compensation for disconnection of electrical services and the damages resulting from the disconnection

5 4 9

Refund of amounts paid to licensee 3 6 9

Removal of a distribution line 0 9 9


It should be noted that some of the cases included more than one request. There were also some consequent requests not related to the electricity industry, such as requests for payment of suing expenses which were not included in the table.

Table (9 continued): Categorization of cases according to the requests they contained

Type of Request 2010 2011 TOTAL

Removal of a transformer/electricity box 4 2 6

Relocation of a transformer station 4 2 6

Service connection 3 2 5

Determination of costs of service connection according to the old rule (i.e, rule used before 6/3/2010)

4 0 4

Removal of an electrical room 2 2 4

Enforcement of an eminent domain action 2 1 3

Compensation for drop in real estate property value due to presence of electrical equipment on the premises

1 2 3

Compensationformateriallossesresultingfromafireinanelectricitymeteror a transformer

1 2 3

Non-enforcement of payment for electricity bills of prior periods 1 1 2

Recalculation of the amount of electricity bills 1 1 2

Objection to the requirement to provide a site for the electrical equipment 1 1 2

Expropriation of the remainder of a property that was subject to an eminent domain action because the remainder became useless

1 1 2

Compensation for failure to connect the service 0 2 2

Imposing a penalty on a licensee for committing a violation 1 1 2

Imposing a penalty on a licensee for procrastination in implementing a decision by the Authority

1 1 2

Compensation for injuries caused by electrical current 0 1 1

Abrogation of an executive order for expropriation ofproperty for eminent domain

0 1 1

Forgive payment of penalty for tampering with the electricity meter 0 1 1

Paying the licensee for supplying electrical equipment 0 1 1

Failure to connect electrical service to others 0 1 1

Rescind surcharges on the electricity bill 0 1 1

Relocate buried electricity cable 0 1 1

Grant an additional electricity meter 0 1 1

Reconnect electricity service 1 0 1

Reissue electricity bills in the name of the previous consumer 1 0 1

64 ECRA

Part IVThe Electricity and Water Desalination

Industry in the Year 2011


66 ECRA

The Electricity Industry in 2011

The Saudi electricity system is the largest in the Arab

world, where peak load in 2011 reached 48,267

MW. The following is a brief description of this

system.

Generation

Generation capacity in the Kingdom in 2011

reached 57,432 MW*. Of this total capacity SEC

owned 75%, SWCC 9%, and ownership of the

remainder was distributed among several producers

as shown in Table (10) and Figure (12).

Table (10): Runtime capacities of generation units of licensed entities

Producing entity No. of plants Capacity (MW)

Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) 48** 43,006

Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) 6*** 5,120

Jubail Water and Electricity Co. 1 2,942

Shuaibah Water and Electricity Co. 1 1,191

Tihamah Power Generation Co. 4 1,083

Marafiq(Yanbu) 1 1,038

Shuqaiq Water and Electricity Co. 1 1,020

Saudi Aramco 6 1,018

Arabian Rabigh Water and Electricity Co. 1 481

Saudi Cement Company 2 266

Jubail Power Co. 1 250

Aman Modern Energy Co. 3 18

Total 75 57,433****

All data appearing in this section of the report has been obtained from SEC, excepting data for generation where the

data was obtained from the licensees.

Rented units are not included.

Cogeneration plants only.

This total represents the installed capacities; the total of the available capacities was 51,148MW.

*

*****

****


16%

75%

9%

Other Producers

Saudi Electricity Company

Desalination

Figure (13) shows distribution of generation

capacities in the four operating districts of SEC*.

ofYanbuIndustrialCitywhereMarafiqisresponsible

for transmission). During 2011 the National

Electricity Transmission Company (NETC) was

established. NETC is expected to commence actual

operations in 2012 which include planning, building

and operating all components of the transmission

systems for voltages of 110kV and higher.

Transmission from the generation plants to the

consumption areas is carried through high voltage

overhead lines that have a total length of 45,442 km

and underground lines that have a total length of

4,232 km.

The national transmission network consists of

transformer stations, connection and disconnection

stations, transmission lines at the high voltages of

110, 115, and 132kV, and transmission lines at the

very high voltages of 230 and 380kV.

TheSouthernSECOperatingDistrictwasfinally

connected to the Western Operating District with

the completion of the transmission line which

connects the Shuqaiq generation station in the Jazan

Province with the Shuaibah generation station in the

Makkah Province in 2010. The Western Operating

District was also connected to the Central Operating

District through completion of the transmission line

connecting Qaseem to Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah.

SEC is currently carrying out preliminary studies

to build a 500 kV DC line connecting Riyadh

with Jeddah. The completion of this line will thus

completetheconstructionofaunifiednational

network. In the meantime construction is underway

of a national control center for the electricity system

which will enhance the capabilities of the National

Electricity Transmission Company to manage the

Transmission

At present SEC has a monopoly on transmission of

electric power in the Kingdom (with the exception

Figure (12): Distribution of generationcapacities among producers

Figure (13): Distribution of electricity generation capacities in the SEC operating districts

* SEC’s operating districts are shown in Figure (2) page 24.

8%Southern

34%Western

37% 21%Eastern

Central

68 ECRA

National system from east to west and from north to

south, and coordinate the activities of the regional

control centers that are operating currently in the

SEC eastern, central, western and southern operating

districts.

Distribution

Currently SEC has a monopoly also of electricity

distribution to consumers in the Kingdom (with the

exceptionoftwoareasoperatedbyMarafiqinJubail

and Yanbu). In 2011 SEC delivered a total of 219,662

GWh of energy, an increase of 3.5% over the

previous year. The number of customers increased

over the same period by 5.7% to 6,341,025. Table

(11)showsthedistributionofcustomersclassified

by consumption type. As evident from Figure (14),

the residential sector consumes half of the total

electricity sold, of which 70% is attributed to air-

conditioning.

The distribution network consists of 213,608 km

of overhead lines and 195,681 km of underground

buried lines.

Consumption is about equal at slightly over 30% in

each of the Eastern, Central, and Western Operating

Districts while consumption in the Southern

Operating District amounts to about a quarter of the

quantity consumed in the other districts (Figure 15).

The distribution of consumption among the various

categories shows a marked regional variation. While

industrial consumption dominates in the Eastern

Operating District (Figure 16), in the other operating

districts residential consumption

is dominant. It is more than 55%

in the Central Operating District

(Figure 17), around 60% in the

Western Operating District

Figure (14): Distribution of consumptionby class-kingdom-wise

4%Others

19%

15%

50%

12%

Industrial

Commercial

Residential

Government

Table (11): Distribution of consumers based ontype of consumption in 2011

TypeNumber

of subscribers

Consumption Percent of total consumption(GWh)

Residential 5,023,038 109,262 49.7%

Commercial 1,030,963 32,511 14.8%

Government 204,451 27,528 12.5%

Industrial 7,646 42,128 19.2%

Others 74,927 8,233 3.7%

Total 6,341,025 219,662


(Figure 18), and reaches a maximum of 67% of the

total consumption in the Southern Operating District

(Figure 19).

The distribution of residential and commercial

consumption in 2011 in the operating districts

(Figure20)reflectstherelativepopulation

densities in these districts. The larger government

consumption in the Central Operating District is

attributed to the location of the Kingdom’s capital in

that area. The presence of the two major industrial

giants, Saudi Aramco and SABIC, in the Eastern

Operating District explains the high industrial

consumption of this district.

Figure (15): Distribution of consumptionamong the Operating Districts

Figure (17): Distribution of consumptionin the Central Operating District

Figure (16): Distribution of consumptionin the Eastern Operating District

Figure (18): Distribution of consumptionin the Western Operating District

4%Other

8%

31%32%

9%

9%

46%

Southern

Eastern

Residentials

Commercial

Government

Industrial

31%Western

30%Central

5%Other

2%Other

7%

12%

19%60%

Industrial

Government

Commercial

Residential

7%Industrial

16%Government

17%

55%

Commercial

Residential

70 ECRA

Figures for electricity generation from various

sources, total quantity of electricity sold by SEC, and

total energy loss of the entire SEC system are shown

in Table (12).

Figure (19): Distribution of consumptionin the Southern Operating District

4%Others

13%

15%67%

Government

Commercial

Residential

1%Industrial

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

32

9 94

46

17 16

57

1912

27

15 13

1

5560

67

Figure (20): Comparison of consumptionpatterns in the operating districts

Eastern Central Western Southern

Residential Commercial Government Industrial Others

Perc

ent

Consumption Type

4


Consumer Service Connections

Attheendof2010,SEChad53,092unfulfilled

requests from consumers for service connections.

During 2011, the company received 155,318 new

requests. Of the total new and old requests, the

company was able to satisfy 136,320, a response

rate of 65%.

Growth Trends in the Past Decade

During the past decade (2002-2011) the number

of consumers increased from 4,029,319 in 2002 to

6,341,025 in 2011(Figure 21), an increase of 57.5 %.

Energy sales during the same period increased by

70.8% from 128,629 GWh in 2002 to 219,662

GWh in 2011 (Figure 22), while peak demand

increased by 102.1% from 23.938 GW in 2002 to

48.367 GW in 2011 (Figure 23).

Table (12): Electricity production, sale, and losses

Quantity of electric energy(GWh)

20102011

189,415193,952Electricity generated at SEC plants

183,721187,824Electricity sent from SEC plants

16,00015,037Electricity imported from SWCC

34,47641,080Electricity imported from other producers

234,197243,941Total electricity carried by the transmission system

212,263219,662Total electricity sold

2010201121,93524,279Total electricity loss in the transmission and

distribution systems

3.01%3.16%Percent of electricity consumed in SEC Plants

9.37%9.95%Loss in the entire SEC system

72 ECRA

220

200

180

160

140

120

6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0

Year

2011

2006

2010

2005

2009

2004

2008

2003

2007

2002

Figure (21): Growth of the number of consumers (2002-2011)

Figure (22): Growth of energy sales (2002-2011)

2011

2006

2010

2005

2009

2004

2008

2003

2007

2002

Year

Num

ber

of c

onsu

mer

s

(in m

illio

ns)

Ener

gy S

ales

(in 1

000

GW

h)


50

45

40

35

30

25

20

Fuel Types Used in Energy Production

Natural gas and crude oil were used as fuels to

produce some 74% of the energy in 2011 (Figure

24). The other fuels used were diesel, and heavy fuel

oil (HFO).

Figure (24): Fuel types used in electricity

production in 2011

Figure (23): Growth of peak demand (2002-2011)

5%

21%

Heavy Fuel Oils

Diesel

37%Natural gas

37%Crude Oil

Peak

Dem

and

(GW

h)

Year

2011

2006

2010

2005

2009

2004

2008

2003

2007

2002

74 ECRA

Electricity Tariff in the Kingdom

Introduction

One of the most important concerns of ECRA is that

tariffsaredesignedsothattheyarecostreflective,

fair and affordable to end-users, their structure is

easy to implement, and that income collected by

the industry in accordance with these tariffs meets

its revenue requirements.

In order to achieve these aims ECRA’s concerns

include:

• Developing a methodology for tariff setting and

for periodic review of the adopted tariffs.

• Designing and preparing a tariff structure.

• Developing an overall tariff policy statement for

the Kingdom.

• Preparingastandardizedfinancialreporting

system to be utilized by all licensed service

providers.

• Developing a comprehensive system to collect

financialandoperationaldatafromallservice

providers in the Kingdom.

• Developing a comprehensive cost accounting

system in order to assess service providers’

costs which ultimately affect the tariff paid by

consumers.

ECRAisalsokeenthattariffsreflectthegovernment

concernswithregardtotheefficientuseofavailable

energy sources, and depletion of resources and

protection of the environment, as well as economic

factors. Thus, ECRA strives to insure that tariffs in

theKingdomreflectthoseconcernsbyproviding

consumers with incentives to improve their

utilization of the electricity system, and apply

conservation measures that reduce their costs while

atthesametimetheyimprovetheefficiencyofthe

power system.

A Brief History of Electricity Tariffs in the Kingdom

In the early years of introduction of electricity

services in the Kingdom, prices of these services

varied from one producer to another, depending

on his cost of production. In 1954 the government

Table (13) Electricity Prices in Major Cities per CMD 174 of 1959

City

All Consumers, Except Mosques( in SR/kWh)

Mosques(SR/kWh)

First 100 kWhMore than 100

kWhFirst four hours

after sunset

More than four hours after

sunset

Jeddah 0.24 0.21 0.24 0.18 0.18

Makkah 0.30 0.25 0.30 0.17 0.15

Madinah 0.30 0.25 0.30 0.18 0.15

Khobar 0.30 0.25 0.26 0.17 0.15

Dammam 0.30 0.25 0.26 0.17 0.15


decided to set electricity prices to

be affordable to consumers. For

example, the price in Jeddah was

thus reduced from SR 0.55 per kWh

to SR 0.325 per kWh. Prices were

also set in Makkah and Taif at levels

that guaranteed reasonable returns

to the private owners of the utilities.

In 1959 a new electricity tariff

was issued by Council of Ministers

Decision (CMD) 174 which set the

prices as shown in Table (13),

Beginning on 1/7/1383 AH (18/11/1963) the tariff prices

werereducedandunifiedthroughouttheKingdomby

CMD 421 on 4/6/1383 AH (22/10/1963). The reductions

were 12% percent for Jeddah, 30% for Makkah, and

40% for Taif. Concomitant with these reductions, the

Government guaranteed the private utilities subsidies

that covered their operating costs and a reasonable

marginofprofit.FurtherreductionsinJeddahweremade

in 1389 AH (1969) by the Saudi National Electric Power

Company, the utility operator in the city, which reduced

the rate from SR 0.24 to SR 0.20 per kWh.

On 30/11/1391 AH (17/1/1972) the tariff saw further

reductions via CMD 1099. The prices were as shown in

Table 14.

The CMD included two provisions:

- abolishingthe“meterrent”andchargingafixed

monthly service fee of SR 5.00 for non-industrial

consumers and SR 20.00 for industrial consumers.

- providing annual subsidies to the utility companies

iftheyfailedtomakeprofits.Thesubsidieswere

designedtoguaranteethecompaniesaprofit

margin of 7%.

On 1/7/1393 AH (31/7/1973) the government decreed

reduction of the tariff by 50-60% in 16 smaller towns

intheKingdomthatfixedtherateatSR0.18perkWh

for industrial consumption and SR 0.20 per kWh for

all other consumption. The subsidies for companies

operatinginthesetownsweresettoallowforaprofit

margin of 10% to encourage investment in electricity

services in these regions.

On 20/7/1394 AH (9/8/1974) CMD 1020 set the tariff

for industrial consumption at SR 0.05 per kWh, and SR

0.07 per kWh for all other consumption. The CMD also

raisedtheguaranteedprofitmarginto15%andprovided

for credit facilities and loans through the Saudi Industrial

Development Fund to electricity operating companies.

On 1/3/1405 AH (23/11/1984), the Government

adopted a graduated tariff that increased with each

increasing “bracket” of consumption. The prices were as

shown in Table (15).

Non-industrial consumption (SR/kWh)

Industrial consumption(SR/kWh)

Jeddah 0.14 0.13

Makkah 0.20 0.18

Taif 0.20 0.18

Madinah 0.20 0.18

Yanbu 0.25 0.20

Dammam 0.14 0.10

Table (14): Electricity prices in various cities as per CMD 1099 of 30/11/1391 AH (17/1/1972)

76 ECRA

Inthefollowingfifteenyears1405-1420AH

(1985-2000)twomodificationsweremade

to this tariff that included enlargement of

the «brackets», expansion of the classes

ofbeneficiaries,andreductionofthe

tariffs. A fee of SR0.05/kWh was added to

consumption above 2000 kWh to establish

a fund for electricity projects needed on an

urgent or emergency basis.

The Current Tariff

In 1415 AH (1995) the

Ministry of Industry and

Electricity undertook a

comprehensive study

of the electricity sector

in the Kingdom that

culminated in the

Council of Ministers

Decision 169 which

mandated total overhaul

and restructuring of the

entire sector. The decision also included approval

of a new tariff (Table 16) starting on 1/1/1421 AH

(6/4/2000).

ThetariffwaslatermodifiedbyCMD170on

12/7/1421 AH (9/10/2000) to the current tariff

shown in Table (17) which became effective from

1/8/1421 AH (28/10/2000).

This tariff remained in effect for approximately

ten years. On 19/7/1431 AH (1/7/2010), ECRA’s

Board, utilizing the authority* delegated to it by the

Council of Ministers in 1431AH (2010), approved a

new tariff for the non-residential (i.e., government,

commercial, and industrial) consumption tariff

while the residential consumption tariff remained

unchanged. Thus the current tariff became as shown

in Tables (18-A, 18-B, and 18-C).

Table (15) Electricity tariff adopted on1/3/1405 AH (23/11/1984)

Monthly Consumption

“Bracket”(kWh)

Non-industrial consumption

(SR/kWh)

Industrial consumption

(SR/kWh)

0-1000 0.07

0.051001-2000 0.10

> 2000 0.15

Table (16): Tariff as of 1/1/1421 AH (6/4/2000)

Monthly Consumption(kWh)

Residential, Commercial, Government

(SR/kWh)

Agricultural, Charitable Societies(SR/kWh)

Industrial(SR/kWh)

1-2,000 0.05

0.10

0.12

2,001-4,000 0.10

4,001-5,000 0.13

0.12

5,001-6,000 0.18

6,001-7,000 0.23

7,001-8,000 0.28

8,001-9,000 0.32

9,001-10,000 0.36

>10,000 0.38

* The Council of Ministers Decision granted ECRA the authority to set the non-residential tariff with a ceiling of SR0.26/kWh.


Table (17): Tariff approved by CMD 170 as of 1/8/1421 AH (28/10/2000)

Table (18-A): Current Tariff - Non-industrial Consumption

Monthly Consumption

(kWh)

Residential, Commercial, Government

(SR/kWh)

Agricultural, Mosques, Charitable Societies

(SR/kWh)

Industrial, Medical Facilities, Private Educational Institutions

(SR/kWh)

1-2,000 0.05 0.05

0.12

2,001-4,000 0.100.10

4,001-5,0000.12

5,001-6000

0.12

6,001-7,000 0.15

7,001-8,000 0.20

8,001-9,000 0.22

9,001-10,000 0.24

>10,000 0.26

Monthly Consumption(kWh)

Type of Consumption

Residential(Halalah/kWh)

Agricultural, Mosques, Charitable

Organizations(Halalah/kWh)

Commercial(Halalah/kWh)

Government(Halalah/kWh)

Unchanged, as per CMD 170 As of 19/7/1431 AH (1/7/2010)

1-2,000 5 512

26

2,001-4,000 1010

4,001-5,00012

205,001-6,000

12

6,001-7,000 15

7,001-8,000 20

8,001-9,000 22

269,001-10,000 24

More than 10,000 26

78 ECRA

Table (18-B): Current Tariff – Industrial Tariff* for Small Industries(Industrial Plants With Contracted Loads not Exceeding 1,000kVA)

Variable Tariff(for plants with digital meters)

Seasonal Tariff(for plants with electro-

mechanical meters)Season

Tariff(Halalah/

kWh)Time of Use

Tariff(Halalah/

kWh)Time of Use

12 All times 12 All times 1 October-30 April

10

Off-peak hours Saturday-Thursday: 00:00-8:00.Friday: 00:00-9:00,21:00-00:00

15 All times 1 May – 30 September

26Peak timeSaturday-Thursday: 12:00-15:00.

15 All other times

Table (18-C): Current Tariff – Industrial Tariff* for Large Industries(Industrial Plants With Contracted Loads Exceeding 1,000kVA)

Variable Tariff(for plants with digital meters)

Seasonal Tariff(for plants with electro-

mechanical meters)Season

Tariff(Halalah/

kWh)Time of Use

Tariff(Halalah/

kWh)Time of Use

14 All times 14 All times 1 October-30 April

10

Off-peak hours Saturday-Thursday: 00:00-8:00.

Friday: 00:00-9:00,21:00-00:00

15 All times 1 May – 30 September

26Peak time

Saturday-Thursday: 12:00-15:00.

15 All other times

Applicable Since 19/7/1431 AH (1/7/2010)*


250

200

150

100

50

0

In general, the electricity tariff in the Kingdom is

one of the least expensive in the world as seen

in Figure 25 which shows a comparison of the

average electricity tariff in the Kingdom with

severalcountries.Thedatainthisfigureisthelatest

available in the internet**. All tariffs are for 2011.

Figure (25): Comparison of average electricity tariff in the Kingdom with several countries

Data were taken from the following site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/electricity_tariff**

Tong

a

Den

mar

k

Ger

man

y

Bra

zil

Bel

gium

Net

herl

and

Italy

Irel

and

Swed

en

Spai

n

Port

ugal

Hun

gary

Chi

le

Sing

apor

e

UK

Finl

and

Fran

ce

Chi

na

Latv

ia

Turk

ey

Hon

g Ko

ng

USA

Mol

dova

Can

ada

Rus

sia

Dub

ai

Uzb

ekis

tan

Icel

and

Kin

gdom

of S

audi

Ara

bia

Hal

alah

/ K

Wh

80 ECRA

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

To give an idea of the progression of tariffs in

the Kingdom since 1370 AH (1950) Figure (26)

illustratestheprogressionofthetariffforthefirst

100 kWh of residential consumption in the City of

Jeddah as an example.

Monthly Bill for Residential Consumption

Total residential consumption of electric energy

in 2011 was 109,261 GWh, which represents

49.7 % of total electric energy consumption in the

Kingdom.

By studying monthly residential consumption bills

issued in 2011, the following becomes apparent

(Figure 27):

• 61.4% of the bills were valued at SR100 or less

each.

• 25.6% of the bills ranged in value between

SR101.00 and SR200.00 each.

• 7.3% of the bills ranged in value between

SR201.00 and SR500.00 each.

• Only 5.9% of the bills had a value exceeding

SR500.00 each.

From the preceding data it is clear that more than

94% of the monthly residential consumers bills

issued in 2011 did not exceed SR500.00 each

(Figure 25).

Figure (26): Change of tariff per kWh of the first 100 kWh of

residential consumption in the city of Jeddah from 1950 to the present

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Year

Tari

ff

(Hal

alah

/kw

h)


Figure (27): Percentage distribution of monthly bills 2011

Value of the monthly bill

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

1.74.2 2.9 4.4

9.2

16.2

61.2

more than SR

1000.00

SR501.00 - SR

1000.00

SR401.00 - SR

500.00

SR301.00- SR

400.00

SR201.00 - SR

300.00

SR101.00 - SR

200.00

SR100.00 or less

82 ECRA

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

94.191.1

77.5

61.4

86.7

Undoubtedly, the monthly bill will vary greatly from

one month to another according to season. The bill

amountincreasessignificantlyinthesummerand

decreases in the winter for most parts of the country.

Cost of Unit of Electricity and Average Sale Price

In 2011, the average cost of a unit of electricity (kWh)

in the Kingdom was about 14.9 Halalah/kWh. This

figurecoversthecostsofgeneration,transmission,

and distribution. It accounts for operational and

capital expenditures, fuel, purchased electricity, and

depreciation (Figure 29). The average price collected

from consumers by SEC was 14.1 Halalah/kWh.

Figure (28): Cumulative percentage of monthly bill issued in 2011

Cum

ulat

ive

perc

enta

ge

Not exceeding SR

500.00

Not exceeding SR

400.00

Not exceeding SR

300.00

Not exceeding SR

200.00

Not exceeding SR

100.00

Value of the monthly bill


Figure (29): Distribution of cost of electricity unit

27%

30%

18%

12%

13%

OperationalExpenses

Depreciation

Fuels

CapitalExpenses

PurchasedElectricity

84 ECRA

Water Desalination in 2011

Saudi Arabia is considered the largest producer

of desalinated water in the world. The following

sections contain a description of the water

desalination system in the Kingdom.

Production of Desalinated Water

The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) is

the principal entity for desalinated water production

in the Kingdom. Its share of total production is

about 58%. Table 19 shows the capacities of entities

working in desalinated water production and

cogeneration, while Figure 30 shows the percentage

of desalinated water produced by each licensee.

The quantity of desalinated water produced by

SWCC in 2011 increased by 5.5% compared to

the previous year (Table 20) to reach 933 million

cubic meters. Figure 31 shows the percentage

share of each SWCC plant in the total corporation

production.

Table (19): Desalinated Water and Steam Productions of

Entities Licensed to Operate in the Desalinated Water and Cogeneration Fields

LicenseeNumber of Plants

Desalinated Water Production Capacity

(M3/Day)

Steam Production Capacity

(Ton/Hour)

SWCC 17 3,363,731 30,689

Jubail Water & Electricity Co. 1 805,464 5,170

Shuaibah Water & Electricity Co. 1 880,000 6,048

Tihamah Power Generation 4 0 4,405

Marafiq(Yanbu) 1 95,760 0

Shuqaiq Water & Electricity Co. 1 216,000 0

Saudi Aramco 6 0 2,514

Rabigh Arabian Water & Electricity Co. 1 196,728 4,295

Jubail Power Co. 1 0 510

Shuaibah Expansion Project 1 150,000 0

Bawarej International Co. 2 52,000 0

Total 36 5,759,683 53,631


Figure (30): Percentage Distribution of Production

Capacities Among the Licensees

Table(20): Desalinated Water Produced in

Each SWCC Plant

Transportation of Desalinated Water

SWCC is responsible for transportation of the

desalinated water from the production plants to the

major reservoirs of the Potable and Sanitary Water

Departments in the various cities and towns. These

departments, which come under the purview of the

Ministry of Water and Electricity, along with the

National Water Company (NWC) are responsible

for water distribution to the ultimate consumers.

Figure (32) shows locations throughout the Kingdom

of SWCC’s water desalination plants as well as the

major water transportation pipelines.

58.4%

12.3%

15.3%

14%

SWCC

OtherProducers

Shuaibah Water& Electricity

Jubail Water& Electricity

Figure (31): Percentage share of

each SWCC plant in the corporation’s total

desalinated water production

Production Quantity(Million Cubic Meter)

PlantYear

2011 2010

Jubail 375.9 334.4

Al-Khobar 141.9 152.1

Khafji 7.8 7.8

Jeddah 136.2 132.7

Shuaibah 131.7 100.2

Yanbu 113.2 118.4

Shuqaiq 2.2 15.0

Small Plants 23.8 23.0

Total Production 932.7 883.6

40.3%

15.8%

14.6%

15.2%

14.1%

Jubail

The Other Plants

Jeddah

Al-Khobar

Shuaibah

86 ECRA

3.13.02.92.82.72.62.52.42.3

Figure (32): Desalination plants and major desalinated

water transportation lines in the Kingdom

SWCC’s Annual Production Capacity of Desalinated Water

Figure (33) shows SWCC’s production capacity of desalinated water over the past ten years.

Figure (33): Production capacity of desalinated water in the past ten years

Prod

ucti

on C

apac

ity

(Tho

usan

d cu

bic

met

ers)

2002 20062004 2008 20102003 20072005 2009 2011

Desalination Plants

City

Pipelines

Future pipelines

Haql

TabukDuba

Wajh

Omloj

Yanbu

KhafjiHafar Al-BatinRass alzor

NeairiahZulfi

GatHasaa

ShaqraRiyadh Hufuf

Majma’ah

BuraydahJubayl

DammamKhobar

Jeddah

Barakk

Shuqaq

Farasan Jazan

Madinah

RabighMakkah

TaifShuaiba

Baha

Ahd Almasareha

Khamis MushaytAhadRafidah


Production Capacity Factor

The production capacity factor expresses the

ratio of actual production to design capacity. The

overall average production capacity factor for the

entire corporation decreased from 84.2% in 2010

to 83.1% in 2011. The decrease is due to several

causes. They include ceasing production of some

of the units in the Shuaibah and Shuqaiq plants in

order to accommodate about 403 Million cubic

meters of water received from private producers

through SWCC pipelines, as well as maintenance

work and rehabilitation program in some of the

plants.

Electricity Generation in SWCC

Most water desalination plants owned by SWCC are

of the cogeneration type, where desalinated water

is produced simultaneously with electricity. SWCC

sells most of its electricity production to SEC.

In 2011 SWCC generated 24.1 GWh of electricity.

The West Coast Plants contributed 9.1 GWh (37.8%

of the total generation production) while the East

Coast Plants produced 15.0 GWh (62.2% of the

total production).

SWCC Plants Costs of Production

The average costs of desalinated water and

electricity production as well as the average

cost of transportation of desalinated water to the

major reservoirs of the potable and sanitary water

departments are shown in Table (21). It is clear

from the table that production of desalinated water

in small plants, which are located in remote areas

and serve very small communities, is extremely

expensive.

Table (21): SWCC average costs of production of desalinated water

and electricity, and average cost of transportation of desalinated water

Average Cost

Cos

t of

w

ater

pr

oduc

tion

East Coast 2.18 SR/m3

West Coast 3.05 SR/m3

Small Plants 11.37 SR/m3

Cost of water transportation 1.12 SR/m3

Cost of electricity generation 0.07 SR/kWh

88 ECRA

SWCC Restructuring Plan

In conformity with the policy adopted by the

government to privatize a certain number of

economic activities, and the decisions of the

Council of Ministers and Supreme Economic

Council to implement privatization in the area

of water desalination, SWCC had undertaken in

the past few years tremendous efforts to study

restructuring of its activities and modifying its

charter in order to foster private sector participation

and investment in the construction and operation of

new desalination plants. The studies concentrated

particularly on privatization alternatives of

SWCC. These efforts were concluded in late

2008 with adoption of transforming SWCC into a

holding company (Figure 34) with wholly owned

subsidiaries. This approach permits participation of

the private sector in the production companies (in a

fashion similar to the IWPPs), and allows the private

sector to participate at a later stage in the ownership

of the holding company through public share

offering. The private sector share in the ownership

of the subsidiary production companies will depend

on the investment attractiveness of each plant,

but will not be less than 60% of each subsidiary

production company.

Figure (34): Final structure of SWCC after implementation of the restructuring plan

The Holding Company

Full Ownership Partial Ownership

(Subsidiares)

ResearchInstitute &

DesalinationTechnologies

OtherProduction

Plants

Trans-porta-tion

Khafji

Al-Khobar

SmallPlants

Shuqaiq

Ras Al-Khair

Shuaibah

Jubail

Yanbu


Since the privatization model was adopted, SWCC

concentrated its efforts on preparation of its incorporation

documents, submitting them to the Supreme Economic

Council, preparing the commercial agreements, working

out details of the organizational structure, streamlining

human resources, reengineering operations, developing

IT strategies and applications, working on change

management,definingtheassetsanddetermining

their valuation, and other processes and procedures.

SWCC is currently undergoing actual application of

restructuring and transformation into a commercial mode

of operation.

At the present time SWCC is awaiting promulgation

of the order to form the holding company. It will

then undertake transforming the plants targeted for

privatization into production companies, and thereafter

prepare RFBs to privatize these companies.

In order to privatize the holding company, the private

sector will be allowed in the short to medium-term (i.e.,

aperiodnotexceedingfiveyearsafterestablishingthe

holding company) to share in its operations through a

management contract (or contracts).

In the long run the possibility of transforming the strategic

transportation unit into a production company will be

considered. The private sector may then participate

through a public share offering or as a strategic partner.

Table (22) lists the desalination plants targeted to be

transformed into production companies with private

sector participation.

Table (22): SWCC desalination plants targeted for privatization as production companies

Production Company Plants that it will own

Yanbu Yanbu Plants 1,2, 3, RO Plant

Small Plants Group 1 Dhuba 3, Umloj 3, Wajh 3, 4

Small Plants Group 2 Leith 1, Gunfuthah 1, Farasan 2, Rabigh 2

Shuaibah Shuaibah 1, 2, 3

Shuqaiq Shuqaiq 1, 3

Al-Khobar Al-Khobar 3, 4

Jubail Jubail 4, RO Plant

90 ECRA

Participation of the Private Sectorin the Electricity and Water Desalination Industry

Electricity Industry

ECRA considers private sector participation in the

electricity and water desalination industry essential

for the development and sustainability of this

industry in the Kingdom. The Authority has thus

placed this matter as one of its highest priorities.

As shown in Table (10) page 66, the private sector

alreadyparticipatessignificantlyingeneration.

According to a study undertaken to estimate

the funding needs of the electricity services for

the period 2009-2020, the amount required for

electricity generation, transmission and distribution

was estimated at SR526 billion distributed as shown

in Table (23).

The estimates of Table (23) are based on the

assumptions that by the year 2020 the peak load

will be 71,940 MW and the generation reserve will

be 15%.

Undoubtedly, the amount of work required by the

electricity industry and the volume of investments

needed represent attractive opportunities for the

private sector to participate in the execution of the

industry projects and in its growth and development.

The investment opportunities for private sector

participation in the industry include:

• Developing Independent Power Projects (IPPs),

and Independent Water and Power Projects

(IWPPs).

• Building, leasing, and/or operating transmission

lines and pipelines.

• Forming power generation and desalination

production companies.

• Obtaining concessions or leases for existing

generation and water production facilities.

• Obtaining facility management contracts.

• Direct purchase of selected existing power and

water desalination assets.

• Undertakingelectricitydistributioninspecific

areas.

• Providing services to consumers.

Table (23): Estimated funding required for implementing electricity

projects through the Year 2020.

ActivityRequired Funding

(in billion SR)

Percentage of total funding required

Generation 335 63.7%

Transmission 121 23%

Distribution 70 13.3%

Total 526


Water Desalination Industry

The large economic development that the Kingdom

is currently undergoing has led to an increase in

demand for desalinated water, and consequently

the need to execute many projects that require large

financialinvestments.Studieshaveshownthatthe

Kingdom will need to invest around SR300 billion

on water desalination in the coming twenty years.

The studies have shown that, in the medium term,

the estimated costs for implementing projects

for water desalination, cogeneration, and water

transportation up to the year 2020 will be SR91

billion (Figure 35). The estimates were made on

the basis that by 2020 SWCC will be producing 6

million cubic meters of desalinated water daily.

As with the electricity industry, undoubtedly, the volume

of work required by the desalination industry, and the

size of investment it needs present attractive opportunities

for participation of the private sector in carrying out the

water desalination industry projects, and share in its

growth and development. The opportunities available to

the private sector to participate in this industry include

the following:

• Executing the projects that are let out for bidding

by SWCC, through the system known as EPC

(engineering, procurement, and construction).

• Building independent projects for water desalination after

the holding company and its subsidiaries are established.

• Building pipelines.

• Supplying and manufacturing spare parts for the

desalination plants.

• Carrying out many of the operation and maintenance

contracts for the production plants and the pipelines.

Figure (35): Desalinated water industry financing

requirements for capital andoperational expenses to

the year 2020

(amounts in SR Billion)

65.4

Capital Expenses Operational Expenses

25.5Electricityand

Water43.7

Water9

Transportation8.8

Transportation

21.7

Electricity7.7

***ECRA will be working in coordination with the

Ministry of Water & Electricity (MoWE), SEC, SWCC,

investors from the private sector, and all other

interested parties to select the options most suitable

andbeneficialtoSaudiArabia.

92 ECRA

The Appendices


94 ECRA

Appendix (1)Authorizations, Licenses, and Exemptions from Licensing

Table (A1-1): Permits Issued by the Authority

(By the end of 2011)

Activity OrganizationProject

LocationProduction Capacity

Cog

ener

atio

n

1 Rayet Al-Hijaz Trading Est. RabighElectricity: 5,000 MW

Desalinated water: 150,000 M3 /day

2Rabigh International Power & Water Co.

RabighElectricity: 1,200 MW

Desalinated water: 450,000 M3 /day

3Misha’al Atiyah Al-Malki

Est.Rabigh

Electricity: 1,400 MW Desalinated water: 1,000,000 M3 /day

4 Itlal Al-Ghad Group RabighElectricity: 1,000 MW

Desalinated water: 500 M3 /day

5National Tri-Production

Energy Co.Jeddah

Electricity: 1,000 MW Desalinated water: 100,000 M3 /day

Steam: 100,000 Ton/hour

6 Arabian Paper Co. DammamElectricity: 50 MW

Steam: 250 Ton/hour

7District Cooling Systems

Co.Taif

Electricity: 600 MW Desalinated water: Not determined yet.

Steam: Not determined yet.

8Mabaher Al-Jazeerah

Strategic Power & WaterRabigh

Electricity: 2,060 MW Desalinated water: 1,500 M3 /day

Elec

tric

ity

Gen

erat

ion

9Electrical Energy

and Communication Technology Co.

Various sites Electricity: 1,000 MW


Table (A1-2): List of organizations holding licenses


Activity Organization Project Location Production Capacity

Elec

tric

ity g

ener

atio

n

1 Saudi Electricity Co.Throughout the

Kingdom48,777 MW

2General Contracting Co.

(Alolayan Group).Mobile units in several parts of the Kingdom

618.4 MW

3 Saudi Cement Co. Ein Dar, Hafouf 246 MW

4Taqah for Environmental and Electric Energy Systems Ltd.

Mobile units in several parts of the Kingdom

353.2 MW

5 Energy Equipment Rental Co.Mobile units in several parts of the Kingdom

331.34 MW

6 Rabigh Electricity Co. Rabigh 1,320 MW

7Abduallah & Abdul Aziz

Kanoo Co.Mobile units in several parts of the Kingdom

119 MW

8 Dhurma Electricity Co. Riyadh 1,756 MW

9 Twairqi Power Co. Dammam 126 MW

10 Nour Power Co.Mobile units in several parts of the Kingdom

23 MW

11 Hajar Electricity Co. Gurayyah 4,098 MW

Elec

tric

ity tr

ansm

issi

on 12 Saudi Electricity Co.Throughout the

Kingdom

13Power and Water Utility

Company for Jubail and Yanbu (Marafiq)

Jubail and Yanbu

Ow

ners

hip

of a

tr

ansm

issi

on n

etw

ork

14 Saudi Arabian Mining Co.

(Ma’aden)Ras Al-Khair

Overhead line: 122 km Max. load: 2300 kVA

Voltage: 380 kV

96 ECRA


Elec

tric

ity d

istr

ibut

ion

and

reta

il

15 Saudi Electricity Co.Throughout the

Kingdom



Jubail and Yanbu

Cog

ener

atio

n

17Saline Water Conversion

Corporation (SWCC)Throughout the

Kingdom

Electricity: 5,017.6 MW Desalinated water:2,923,387 M3 /day

Steam: 28,692 ton/hour

18 Jubail Power Co. Jubail Industrial CityElectricity: 250 MW Steam: 510 ton/hour

19Tihama Power Generation Ltd.

(Saudi Aramco Independent Projects)

Juaimah, Othmaniah, Shedgum, andRas Tannourah

Electricity: 1,083 MW Steam: 4,405 ton/hour

20Shuaibah National Water &

Electricity Co.Shuaibah

Electricity: 1,191 MW Desalinated water:888,000 M3 /day

Steam: 6,053 ton/hour

21Shuqaiq Water & Electricity

Co.Shuqaiq

Electricity: 1,020 MW Desalinated water:212,000 M3 /day

22 Jubail Water & Electricity Co. JubailElectricity: 2,875 MW

Desalinated water:805,464 M3 /day

23Rabigh Arabian Water &

Electricity Rabigh

Electricity: 120 MW Desalinated water:

12,000 M3 /day Steam: 470 tons/hour

24 Saudi AramcoRiyadh, Buqaiq, Qatif, Kharasaniyah, Barri,

Yanbu

Electricity: 1,051 MW Desalinated water:

2,514 M3 /day



YanbuElectricity: 1,533 MW


Table (A1-2 continued): List of organizations holding licenses




Wat

er d

esal

inat

ion 26 Shuaibah Expansion IWPP Co. Shuaibah


27 National Tri-production Co. JeddahDesalinated water:

80,000 M3 /day

28Bawarij Water Desalination

International, Ltd. Shuaibah



Corporation (SWCC)Several locations in the

KingdomDesalinated water:440,299 M3 /day

Elec

tric

ity

Trad

ing 30 Water & Electricity Co. 1,750 MW

31 Marafiq(Tawreed)Co. 2,744 MW

Des

alin

ated

Wat

er

Trad

ing

32 Water & Electricity Co. 1,242,000 M3/day

33 Marafiq(Tawreed)Co. 800,000 M3/day

34 Rakaa for Energy & Water Co. 50,000 M3/day

Tran

spor

tatio

n of

D

esal

inat

ed W

ater


Corporation (SWCC)Throughout the

Kingdom---

Table (A1-2 continued): List of organizations holding licenses


98 ECRA

Activity Organization Project locationProduction

capacity

Elec

tric

ity g

ener

atio

n

1 Yanbu Cement Company Yanbu 100 MW

2Yamama Saudi Cement

Company Ltd. Riyadh 158 MW

3 City Cement Company Marat Center Riyadh 46 MW

4 Al-Tuwairqi EnergySecond Industrial Estate,

Dammam450 MW

5 Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden)

Hazm Al-Jalameed 50 MW

6Nation Agricultural

Development Co. (Nadec)Haradh

28 MW

7 Tabuk Cement Co. Dhuba 46MW

8 Najran Cement Co. Najran 56 MW

9 Middle East Chemicals Ltd.Al-Ajemi Industrial City,

Riyadh8 MW

Cog

ener

atio

n

10 National Shrimp Co. Al-Leith

Electricity: 25MW Desalinated water:

420 M³/day Steam: 4.5 ton/hour

11 Saudi Paper Co.Second Industrial Estate,

DammamElectricity: 15 MW Steam: 25 ton/hour

Wat

er d

esal

inat

ion

12 Tabuk Cement Co. DhubaDesalinated water:

1,500 M³/day

Table (A1-3): List of entities with exemptions from licensing*

(At the end of 2011)

* Under the Implementing Regulations an exemption from licensing is given to a generation station if it is not connected to the transmission or distribution systems (other than those also exempted), and the electricity service is restricted to use by the owner of the generation station. An exemption is also given to a transmission and/or distribution system in an analogous manner.


Appendix (2)Documents and Information Available on ECRA’s Website

ECRA’s website on the internet (www.ecra.gov.sa) contains a large number of documents and useful

information for consumers, investors, and anyone interested in the electricity and water desalination industry.

These documents and information include the

following:

Rules and Regulations

• Electricity Law

• ECRA’s Charter

• Implementing Regulations for the Electricity Law

Covering ECRA’s Responsibilities

• Implementing Regulations for ECRA’s Charter

• Codes and regulations

• Circulars and decisions concerning the

electricity industry

• Council of Ministers Decision Number 169

issued on 11/8/1419AH (1/12/1998) dealing

with restructuring of the electricity sector

• Council of Ministers Decision Number 170

issued on 12/7/1421AH (9/11/2000) modifying

the electricity tariff which was included in

CMD Number 169 issued on 11/8/1419AH

(1/12/1998)

• Current electricity Tariff.

• Electricity Service Connection to Buildings

Bylaw

• Buildings Electrical Wiring Bylaw

• Standby Electric Energy Generation Bylaw

• Safety Rules Bylaw

• Saudi Electricity Transmission Code

• Saudi Electricity Distribution Code

• Water Desalination Code

• Rules and Procedures for Reporting and

Investigating Electricity Industry Accidents

• Development of Mechanism for Design of Tariff

Structure, and System for its Review

National Electricity Register

• A brief about the Register

• Historical data

• Licenses

• Record of Decisions

• Codes and Standards

• Unifiedoffers

• License remuneration calculation

• Station capacities

• Capacities of transmission and distribution

networks

• Electricity network expansion plans

• Other information

1. Number of subscribers and energy sold

(2005-2009)

2. Energy loss in the network

3. Annual peak load in the Kingdom

4. Detailed peak load for the Kingdom

5. Electricity Industry Statistical Yearbook 2008


100 ECRA


8. Special requests/suggestions

Consumer Care

• Service Provision Manual

• Procedure for handling consumer complaints

• Consumer complaints for the past years

• Form for consumer complaint against SEC

• ECRA’s role in serving the consumer

• Rights of consumer vis-à-vis the service provider

• The consumer responsibilities

• The booklet “ECRA…at the Service of the

Consumer” (in Arabic)

Investor Services

• License rules and procedures

- Authorization Requests

• Request to undertake electricity generation

or cogeneration activity

• Request to undertake water desalination

activity

- License Requests

• Request to obtain a license to undertake any

of the following activities of the electricity

and water desalination industry:

• Generation

• Trading

• Transmission


• Distribution

• Desalination

• Cogeneration

• Water transportation

- License Forms

• Electricity distribution and retailing license

• Electricity generation license

• Cogeneration license

• Electricity transmission license

• Electricity retailing license

• Trading license

- Waiver Forms

• Waiver from electricity license form

• Temporary waiver from water desalination

license form

Annual Reports

• ECRA’s Activities and Accomplishments 2011


(Arabic only)




• Annual Report for the period 2002-2006

Studies

• Summary of the Long Range Plan for Electricity

Generation and Transmission.

• A synopsis of the Desalination Code in the

Kingdom.

102 ECRA

• Development of the program for electricity

demand-side management in Saudi Arabia.

• Development of the electricity industry major

performance KPIs: determination of the targets

and incentives.


performance KPIs: the targets and incentives

report.


performance KPIs: major performance KPIs

report.

Papers of Activities Undertaken by ECRA

The following papers represent activities undertaken

by ECRA:

• ECRA’s participation in the Energy Conservation

EfficiencyForumandExhibition.

• The meeting of the Demand-Side Load

Management in Saudi Arabia project.

• ECRA’s participation in the IEE Energy

Conference.

• Workshop on Development of the system of

Electricity Load Management in Saudi Arabia.

• Second Workshop to Bolster Renewable Energy

in Saudi Arabia.


• Development of a National Policy to Bolster

Renewable Energy in Saudi Arabia.

• Presentations of The First Assembly of the GCC

Electricity Sector Regulators.

• Presentations of the Workshop on Structuring

and Development of the Electricity Industry in

Saudi Arabia.

• Symposium of Electricity Terminology.

• Workshop to present the performance KPIs

project.

Conservation

• How to reduce electricity consumption of

electrical equipment?

• The Consumer Guide to Conserving Electrical

Energy Consumption and Load Shifting.

• Add to Your Knowledge: Energy Posters.

104 ECRA

Board of Directors

Management of the Authority


106 ECRA

Board of Directors

H.E. Adullah A. Al-HuseyenMinister of Water & Electricity

Chairman of the Board

H.E. Dr. Abdullah M. Al-ShehriGovernor

Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority

Deputy Chairman of the Board

Mr. Hassan F. AqeelDeputy Minister for Internal Trade

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Mr. Abdullah I. Al-HubayibChairman of the Board,

Saudi ABB Co.

Dr. Abdullah A. Al-AlsheikhVice-Governor for Planning & Development

Saline Water Conversion Corporation

Prof. Fahad H. DakhilExecutive Director,

Educational & IT Projects Co.

Mr. Abdul Aziz O. Al-OmairAsst. Deputy Minister for

Financial and Accounting Affairs

Ministry of Finance

Mr. Safar M. DhofayerExecutive Manager

Southern Cement Co.

Dr. Ahmed S. Al-KhalifaAssistant Deputy Minister for Electricity Affairs

Ministry of Water & Electricity

Dr. Khalid H. BayyariSenior Vice-President and General Manager

Advanced Electronics Co.

Mr. Abdullah A. Al-JarbouHead, Municipalities & Housing Sector

Ministry of Economy & Planning

Dr. Fahd Saleh Al-SultanSecretary General

Council of Saudi Chambers

Mr. Khalid H. Al-SenaniDirector, Gas Supplies and Pricing Department

Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources


Management of the Authority

VICE-GOVERNORS

Dr. Saleh A. BakhrebahVice-Governor,

Support ServicesTel: (01) 201-9104Fax: (01) 201-9105

Email: [email protected]

Mr. Nasser H. QahtaniVice-Governor,

Regulatory Affairs Tel: (01) 201-9034Fax: (01) 201-9035


Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Ibrahim*Vice-Governor ,

Consumers & Service Providers Affairs

Tel: (01) 201-9172Fax: (01) 201-9173


ADVISORS

Dr. Mohammed A. Abul HamayelAdvisor, and Supervisor of Information Technology

Tel: (01) 201-9200Fax: (01) 201-9203


Mr. Khalid M. MaziedLegal Advisor/ Board Secretary

Tel: (01) 201-9117Fax: (01) 201-9296


Department Heads

Mr. Mohammad Al-HusseiniDirector,Governor’sOffice

Tel: (01) 201-9007Fax: (01) 201-9012

Email:[email protected]

Mr. Nuais Al-HwaidyDirector, Public Relations

Tel: (01) 201-9045Fax: (01) 201-9044


Prince Saud A. Al-MugrenDirector, Consumer Affairs

Tel: (01) 201-9220Fax: (01) 201-9227


(To be appointed)Director, Service Providers Affairs

Tel: (01) 201-9160Fax: (01) 201-9162


Mr. Abdul Rahman Al-MohaiziDirector General, Legal &

Licensing AffairsTel: (01) 201-9131Fax: (01) 201-9132


Mr. Fayez G. Al-JabriDirector General, Technical Affairs

Tel: (01 201-9111Fax: (01) 201-9113


Mr. Mansour H. Al-AnaziDirector General, Economic Affairs

Tel: (01) 201-9120Fax: (01) 201-9123


Mr. Ibrahim A. Al-GaraawiDirector, Finance

Tel: (01) 201-9280Fax: (01) 201-9287

Email:[email protected]

Mr. Fahd M. Al-HassaniDirector, PersonnelTel: (01) 201-9263Fax: (01) 201-9265


Mr. Hamid k. Al-MalkyDirector, Administrative Support

Tel: (01) 2019-9109 Fax: (01) 201-3211


Mr. Saleh A. Al-TurabiDirector, Property Management

Tel: (01) 201-9020Fax: (01) 201-9025


GOVERNORH.E. Dr. Abdullah M. Al-Shehri

Tel: (01) 201-9009 Fax: (01) 201-9012 Email: [email protected]

* On18/1/1433AH(13/12/2011)hewasappointedbyaRoyalOrderasGovernorofSWCC.Thus,theofficeofVice-GovernorforConsumer and Service Providers Affairs became vacant as of that date.

108 ECRA

ECRA Headquarters Building

Ministry of the Interior

Al-Khaleej OverpassCairo SquareKhurais Road

Takhassusi St.

King Fahad R

oad

to Dammam

IntercontinentalHotel

Council ofSaudi Chambers

Location Map of the ECRA Headquarters

to Makkah Al-Mukarammah


Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority

King Fahd National Library Catalog

REDMEC Number: 1658-3523

Deposition Number: 1428-2329

ww

w.dakkin.com

For further information onthe Authority please contact

The Public Relations Department

Public Relations Telephone: (01) 201-9045 | Public Relations Fax: (01) 201-904ECRA Operator: (01) 201-9000 | ECRA Toll Free: (800) 125-9000

Or please visit our site on the internetwww.ecra.gov.sa