In Gaza's tents, a kilowatt-hour now costs ten times its pre-war price
With the grid destroyed, private generators sell electricity at around 30 shekels per kilowatt-hour, and families who cannot pay are going without light.
Private generators have become the main source of power for most people in Gaza, where the electricity grid is in ruins, and many displaced families can no longer afford them, Mondoweiss reports from Nuseirat camp and central Gaza.
Power now costs about 30 shekels (roughly $9.80) per kilowatt-hour, against 3 to 4 shekels before the war. Local authorities capped prices at 29 shekels on 12 October, but one provider said she could not lower hers because fuel, engine oil and spare parts are restricted from entering the Strip.
“I need to use the light all night, so I can prepare milk and dinner for my daughter,”
Aseel Ayesh, 24, living in a tent in Nuseirat camp
Gaza's government media office puts losses to the power sector at $1.4 billion, with about 5,080 kilometres of lines and 2,285 transformers destroyed. An economist quoted in the piece said high power prices have raised small firms' production costs by 10 to 15 per cent.
Reported from
- Mondoweiss26 Oct
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