IEC: We Won’t Turn Off Power for Debtors During Heat Wave

With daytime temperatures across Israel expected to remain close or above 35 degrees centigrade (100 degrees Fahrenheit) at least through Monday night, electricity demand in Israel is expected to top current records. However, anyone who needs to will be able to run their air conditioners; the Israel Electric Company has promised not to cut off any customers for non-payment of bills until the heat wave passes.

The IEC made the promise to Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz in a meeting Motzoei Shabbos. At the meeting, IEC chairman Ron Tal presented the IEC’s battle plan for dealing with the heat and ensuring that the system would be able to supply the electricity for the expected record demand.

All work on upgrading electrical lines and systems – which usually requires that the power be turned off for several hours as work is done – is suspended until the heat wave has passed. Emergency crews will be on duty to make repairs as needed to minimize the amount of time areas will be without power. With that, the IEC stressed that with the heat, breakdowns in the system were possible.