Amazing What You Learn in Iraq

An Electrical Power System has four components: A generation station, a bunch of transmission station, some distribution sub-stations, and then loads. At each station, electricity is stepped up or down to move or distribute power accordingly. Normal power grip operation is where generation exceeds demand, and generation is matched to load.

Iraq's power is pushed in different kilo voltages: 400kv, 132kv, 33kv, 11kv. Iraq can generate power at the 400 - 132kv, but the current problem with power in Iraq is from the 11kv down to the loads where power is reduced from 11kv to 240 volts and the end user at commercial and residential loads, where demand far exceeds current capacity. Further complicating the problem is power theft, people tapping into lines on the sides trying to get by in the face of power outages, further overloading the grid.

Electricity is a civil service, a benefit to the people that the insurgent can't provide. It is the biggest gripe of the people in our area. No electricity means I only get power for two hours a day, so I can't run my AC unit in my house, so I get all irritated at the Government. I also can't run my refrigerator, and then all my food goes bad. Less than 12 hours of continuous power also means the pumps that supply water to the irrigation canals don't run and not enough water is pumped from the Euphrades, which means my crops die from lack of water, so then I can't sell my vegetables in the market or grow food for my livestock (and they need water to drink too). No electricity also means that a local factory can't operate at capacity, so it has to let people go, and unemployment goes up. So I get mad at the Government, and I start listening to crazy guys talk about how we should revert to 'traditional' Islam where we flog women for going out uncovered, schools are razed for teaching 'impure' things like reading and writing, and men in the market get their hands chopped off for mixing tomatoes and cucumbers in the market (one is female, the other is male, and in 'traditional Islam' they say it is unholy to mix male things with female things).

Counterinsurgency Doctrine tells us that people are the center of gravity. If the people are on your side, they will turn on the insurgent and support Government, as it does a better job of taking care of me than the insurgent does. So electricity is an important part of establishing a legitimate Government. The Brigade I am attached to figured out that if we can augment production at the distribution level (33kv - 11kv) with additional generators, lines, transformers, switch gear, isolator switches, and production and relay equipment, we can provide 12 hours of continuous power to those regions which currently don't have it. They plan to spend a bunch of money on power generation in our area in the coming days. The deal is that whatever we buy has to be maintained by the Ministry of Electricty, which apparently they have agreed to support.

Twelve hours of power equals running water pumps which irrigate fields, ACs that work when it's 118 outside, and refrigerators that actually refrigerate, which hopefully makes people happy and more confident in the Government, which makes Iraq more stable.

Too easy, right?

Ron