The cuts, at the height of summer, with daily temperatures hovering in the low 40s, along with rising food prices and water shortages, have had Egyptians fuming and cursing during a months in which their sacrifices are supposed to bring them closer to God.
And people are venting their frustrations on the government, adding to a list of grievances over what critics argue is its disregard for anything other than holding on to power.
Recently an angry crowd temporarily blockaded a major highway south of Cairo with burning tires.
Officials say the blackouts — which mostly hit in the evening for up to three hours, even in the most upscale residential areas — are necessary to protect the national grid from collapse as a result of higher-than-usual consumption caused by the use of air conditioners during a prolonged heat wave.
They have sought to reassure the public with a flurry of announcements about bolstering power capacity in coming months.
They have also denied reports in the country’s independent media that the export of natural gas to Israel has left them with insufficient fuel to run their gas-fired power stations.
Complaints about services, or the lack of them, are not new in Egypt, where nearly half of the 80 million citizens live on incomes of about two dollars a day.
Since the start of the year, people have protested over rising food prices and for a higher minimum wage and better working conditions.
Egypt has seen a wave of labour unrest in the past few years, coinciding with economic reforms that have been praised by foreign investors but also criticized for further impoverishing the country’s poor.
But the complaints about electricity have increased since the onset of Ramadan and are another mark against the ruling party ahead of parliamentary elections in November and a presidential election next year.
The country’s estimated generating capacity of 25,000 megawatts has been sorely tested, with consumption hitting over 23,000 megawatts.
According to cabinet spokesman Magy Rady, a new 375-megawatt power station would come into operation north of Cairo, and there were hopes output from the Aswan High Dam’s hydroelectric turbines could be boosted by 175 megawatts. Later in the year another power station would be coming on stream south of the capital to produce an addition 140 megawatts.
And late last month Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif convened the Supreme Energy Council to discuss the issue.
Sep72010