CITIZENS all over the country are complaining about power outages during the scorching summer months. Najran, Samtah, Arar and Dammam are but a few cities which have been suffering from periodic electricity cuts.

A few months ago, the Saudi Electricity Company had promised that this year would be free from power outages but the repeated blackouts we have seen this summer have shown that that promise does not hold true anymore.

Whenever a blackout occurs, calls pour in from irate customers who wait endlessly on the phone for someone to answer at the SEC’s emergency hotline to no avail. And if someone does answer, he says the failure will be fixed in an hour. Several hours later, nothing has been fixed and another promise has been broken.

Power cuts cause food to spoil, internet disruptions and patients using medical devices at home also suffer as a result. Apparently, the SEC doesn’t take any of this into consideration. I think it should compensate those who suffer from power failures. A citizen has the right to seek compensation for any damage or loss he incurred due to a power outage. The citizen should not suffer in silence for the SEC’s technical failures.

It is our right, as consumers, to receive satisfactory services in return for what we pay the SEC. Let’s digress for a moment and remember the time when we used to suffer from poor telecommunications services and how the situation has improved today because there are several telecommunications companies operating in the Kingdom. So, why is the Saudi Electricity Company monopolizing the market and why are private-sector companies not allowed to provide similar services? Perhaps doing so will open the door for competition and enable people to enjoy better services, not repeated power outages!

Some people argue that the SEC rates are subsidized by the government. If more companies are allowed to enter the market, consumption rates will shoot up. To this I say: If this is true that the company receives such support yet still renders such low-quality services, it is better, in my opinion, to open the door for competition and divide the subsidies among all companies.

Consumers’ main concern is getting their money’s worth and in the case of electricity, they don’t care if they pay a lot or little as long as they are satisfied. When will the SEC satisfy consumers needs?