MPS give notice to energy stakeholders over 'discrepancies' on energy surplus

AMMAN — The Lower House’s Energy and Mineral Resources Committee has given the Energy Ministry and its affiliated bodies, as well as electricity companies, a two-week notice to respond to a number of queries regarding Jordan’s export of energy and job opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

The committee’s chairman, MP Haitham Zaidan, said that the panel called for clarifications over statements attributed to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati related to the export of energy to neighbouring countries and Europe, in addition to her remarks about 35,000 job opportunities made available through the renewable energy sector, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During a meeting on Sunday attended by Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission Chief Commissioner Farouq Hiyari and officials from the Energy Ministry, the National Electricity Company and the Jordan Electricity Company, Zaidan pointed out that the government’s statements on the energy sector, particularly the ones declaring that Jordan has an electricity surplus of 1,400 megawatts and is attempting to export the excess abroad, have caused confusion in the public opinion. 

He questioned why the electricity surplus is not reflected on households’ bills and the economic sector, to which energy is known to pose a challenge, especially in the industrial and tourism sectors, as well as in hospitals and agriculture, among others.