Electricity Authority opposes Egyptian gas deal

- Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) director-general David Assous has severely criticized the emerging deal for the purchase of natural gas from Egypt by the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC).

The Utilities Authority supervises the IEC. In a letter recently sent to Minister of National Infrastructures Joseph Paritzky, Assous wrote, “Through the media, I recently discovered that in the deal between the IEC and Eastern Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the IEC wants to give the Egyptian company $300 million in bank guarantees for building a gas pipeline.

”I also learned that IEC will purchase the full 1.7 billion cubic meters under the contract, half of which is designated for sale to private electricity producers, which will later compete with the IEC.”

Assous also wrote, “IEC chairman Eli Landau will ask the government to order the IEC to purchase the full amount of gas required in the coming years, under a take or pay contract. Landau asked me whether I would recommend that the Utilities Authority promise to cover the guarantees through electricity rates.

”As the state’s electricity supervising agency, I want to make clear that the emerging methods of implementing the gas deal contravene both the Electricity Sector Law (1996) and government policy regarding the future structure of the electricity sector. These methods will also have negative consequences for the IEC’s financial activity and power rates.”

Assous explained his objections to the deal as follows: “For the IEC to provide a bank guarantee to a private developer for purposes of building infrastructure is like requiring that the IEC to provide a guarantee for private developers seeking to sell electricity to the IEC. It contradicts the concept of competition. It should be kept in mind that projects for producing electricity for sale to the IEC did not go through because of financing problems,

”IEC financing for building a pipeline gives the company quasi-ownership of the pipeline. This is liable to give the IEC control over the supply of Egyptian gas to Israel, thereby harming competition.

”International rating company Moody’s warned a year ago that the IEC’s involvement in the natural gas pipeline would increase the company’s capital raising costs, which would be reflected in consumer electricity rates… I agree that Israel has a strategic need for two or three gas suppliers. At the same time, the method of achieving this must be consistent with the government proposal for changing the structure of the electricity sector. Acting without taking into account overall policy will create distortions in the electricity sector.”