Baghdad generator owners strike over diesel supplies
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Owners of private electricity generators in Baghdad began shutting down their units at 12:00 a.m. Tuesday to protest what they called “inadequate support” from the Ministry of Oil, Shafaq News correspondents reported.
In Sadr City, eastern Baghdad, generator owners switched off their units after days of preparations for the protest. Some operators voluntarily turned themselves in to security forces, acknowledging that the shutdown violated operating regulations, in what they described as a demonstration of their commitment to the protest, according to Shafaq News correspondents. Operators in New Baghdad, Baladiyat and Karrada also shut down their generators at the scheduled time.
The shutdown began about two hours after the Ministry of Oil told Shafaq News that it prioritizes fuel supplies to residential generator operators, with diesel allocations tied to the number of hours of electricity supplied by the national grid.
The ministry cited its fuel-supply record over the past two decades and said allocations are based on data provided by local governments on registered generators. According to official figures, operators received 366 million liters of fuel in June, based on an allocation of 45 liters per kVA at 200 Iraqi dinars per liter (about $0.15). In July, the ministry supplied 422 million liters at the same allocation rate, but free of charge, followed by 416 million liters in August, also free of charge.
