The Palestinian Authority (PA) has partially paid off its outstanding electric bill and has transferred NIS 920 million to the Israel Electric Company (IEC) after months in which the IEC periodically cut power to areas in the PA.
The Jerusalem District Electricity Company (JDECO), which relays power to the PA, recently transferred NIS 740 million to the IEC as part of its accumulated debt since 2016. Another NIS 180 million was recently transferred as part of a legal process launched by the IEC against the JDECO.
The JDECO in December signed with a consortium of eight Arab banks a memorandum of understanding to give the company a loan of NIS 670 million ($220 million) to pay off part of its debt of NIS 1.7 billion (about $500 million).
IEC Chairman Yiftach Ron-Tal stated that “this is a significant phase” in reducing the PA’s debt.
The IEC stated it will continue its contacts with JDECO and the PA to settle the payment of the balance of their debts and will act to collect any such debt by all means available to it under the law.
However, at this point, the IEC will stop the electricity cuts to the PA.