Iraq's electricity output crashes below pre-war levels, US general warns

Iraq's daily electricity generation has dropped to between 3,500 and 3,600 megawatts, well under the 4,400 megawatts available before the 2003 invasion, according to Major General Thomas Bostwick of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The figure has declined sharply since mid-December, when output stood at 4,100 megawatts.

Bostwick attributed the shortfall to sabotage targeting fuel supplies, aging infrastructure, and large-scale repairs ordered by the electricity minister in October. Those three factors together account for roughly 3,000 megawatts of lost capacity. Most Iraqis currently receive fewer than three hours of power daily.

Authorities in both Baghdad and Washington are racing to finish repairs before summer heat peaks in June. Iraq's grid last performed at full strength in 1990, generating 9,000 megawatts, before the Gulf War and subsequent sanctions eroded the system over the following decade.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.