{{Short description|Israeli electricity company}} {{Infobox company |name = Israel Electric Corporation |logo = Israel electric co.png |image = Migdal hevrat hashmal.jpg |image_size = 150px |image_caption = [[IEC Tower]], company's headquarters |type = [[Government-owned corporation]] |foundation = {{start date and age|1923}} |founder = [[Pinchas Rutenberg]] |location = [[Haifa]], [[Israel]] |origins= |key_people = [[Yiftah Ron-Tal]] ([[Chairman]] since 2011)<br />Ofer Bloch ([[CEO]]) |area_served = [[Israel]] |industry = [[Electric utility|Electric utilities]] |products = [[Electric power generation|Electricity generation]], [[Electric power transmission|transmission]] and [[Electricity distribution|distribution]] |revenue = [[New Israeli Shekel|₪]] 27.7 billion <small>(2013)</small><ref name="fin1">[https://www.iec.co.il/EN/IR/Documents/Financial%20Reports%20December%202013.pdf Annual Report Year 2013, Page 306]</ref> |operating_income= [[New Israeli Shekel|₪]] 1.4 billion <small>(2013)</small><ref name="fin1" /> |net_income = [[New Israeli Shekel|₪]] (808) million <small>(2013)</small><ref name="fin1" /> |num_employees = 9,782 permanent employees<br />2,894 temporary employees |homepage = [https://www.iec.co.il/en/pages/default.aspx iec.co.il] }} [[File:Rutenberg Palestine Electric Company Ltd.jpg|thumb|right|240px|The first diesel-powered station in Tel Aviv, architect Joseph Berlin, built in 1923]]
'''Israel Electric Corporation''' ('''IEC'''; {{langx|he|חברת החשמל לישראל}}) is the largest supplier of [[electric power|electrical power]] in [[Israel]] and the [[Palestinian territories]]. The IEC builds, maintains, and operates [[power generation]] stations, sub-stations, as well as transmission and distribution networks in Israel.
The company is the sole integrated [[electric utility]] in the State of Israel. Its installed generating capacity represents about 75% of the total electricity production capacity in the country. It transmits and distributes substantially all the electricity used in Israel, including power generated by other producers. The State of Israel owns approximately 99.85% of the company.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://duns100.globes.co.il/en/companies-1000868822|title=Globes Dun's 100 – The Israel Electric Corporation Ltd.|access-date=2015-02-25|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150225171921/http://duns100.globes.co.il/en/companies-1000868822|archive-date=2015-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==History==
=== Rutenberg Concession controversy === After [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign|British forces conquered Palestine]], they had to deal with conflicting demands rooted in Ottoman rule. For example, on 27 January 1914, the city of Jerusalem had granted a Greek citizen, Euripides Mavromatis, concessions for the supply of water, electricity, and the construction of a tramway system in the city. Work under these concessions had not begun and by the end of the war the British occupying forces refused to recognize their validity.<ref name=":0" />
Under the British administration, [[Concessions in Mandatory Palestine|concessions from the Mandatory government]] were given. On 12 September 1921, the British formally signed the "Auja (or Yarkon) Concession" which granted [[Pinhas Rutenberg]]'s Jaffa Electric Company a 70-year concession granting it exclusive rights to generate, distribute, and sell electricity in the administrative District of [[Jaffa]],<ref name=Naharayim>{{cite web |url= https://info.jpost.com/C001/Demo/gal/isr_guide/north/naharayim.html |title=Naharayim - What a rush |access-date=2015-05-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120227031301/http://info.jpost.com/C001/Demo/gal/isr_guide/north/naharayim.html |archive-date=February 27, 2012 }}</ref> and authorized Rutenberg to generate electricity by means of hydroelectric turbines that would exploit the water power of the Auja ([[Yarkon River|Yarkon]]) river. Historian Sahar Huneidi, building on the scholarship of Barbara J. Smith, underscores the 1921 concession's significance by noting that “[t]he [[Economy of Mandatory Palestine|economic separatism]] of the [[Yishuv]]...was given a tremendous push by the monopoly rights granted in 1921 to Pinhas Rutenberg."<ref name=":0">Huneidi, Sahar. ''A Broken Trust: Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians, 1920-1925''. Library of Modern Middle East Studies 15. London: Tauris Academic Studies, 2001, xi and 205–208. Citing Smith, Barbara J. ''The Roots of Separatism in Palestine: British Economic Policy, 1920-1929''. 1st ed. Contemporary Issues in the Middle East. Syracuse [New York: Syracuse University Press, 1993.</ref>
Huneidi characterized the Rutenberg concession as "the largest and most politically controversial Zionist scheme" during the tenure of High Commission [[Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel|Herbert Samuel]] (1921–1924).<ref name=":0" /> "Its significance for the Zionists was to provide employment for the thousands of Jewish settlers, which would in turn 'justify' the influx of Jewish immigration."<ref name=":0" /> Indigenous leadership contested it on these grounds as unduly giving power to Zionists.<ref name=":0" /> Arab opposition proliferated based on this perception. Furthermore, attacks in the British press focused on the fact that Rutenberg was a "foreigner...who had bought the machinery for his project in Germany."<ref name=":0" />
Euripides Mavromatis challenged the concession, claiming he was being deprived of his legal rights. The Mavromatis concession, despite British attempts to abolish it, covered Jerusalem and other localities (e.g., Bethlehem) within a radius of {{convert|20|km|mi|0|abbr=in}} around the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]].<ref name="Shamir">Shamir, Ronen (2013) Current Flow: The Electrification of Palestine. Stanford: Stanford University Press.</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2014}} The case was taken up by [[Greece]] in at the [[Permanent Court of International Justice]], but the ruling there in favor of Mavromatis was effectively undermined by the British Colonial Office.<ref name=":0" />
=== Founding of Palestine Electric Corporation === In the end, Rutenberg's concessions remained and the company built a power plant that produced electricity using diesel-fueled engines. By 1923 Jaffa Electric Company's grid covered [[Jaffa]], [[Tel Aviv]], neighboring (mainly Jewish) settlements, and the British military installations in [[Sarafand al-Amar|Sarafand]].<ref name="Shamir" />
In 1923, Rutenberg founded the '''Palestine Electric Corporation, Limited'''<ref>Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, No. 90, 1 May 1923, p173.</ref> which was granted the "Jordan Concession". Rutenberg merged Jaffa Electric Company into that company, which in 1961 was renamed the Israel Electric Corporation Ltd. Rutenberg built the [[First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House]] at [[Naharayim]] on the [[Jordan River]], which opened in 1932.<ref name=Naharayim/><ref>{{cite web|title=The Power Plant on Two Rivers|url= http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2003/5/The%20Power%20Plant%20on%20Two%20Rivers|publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs|first=Shmuel|last=Avitzur|access-date=2007-05-12}}</ref> Pursuant to the Concessions, the company was granted the exclusive right to generate, supply and distribute electricity and to sell it throughout the Mandate for Palestine, except in Jerusalem and its environs. The plant produced much of the energy consumed in [[Mandatory Palestine]] until the [[1948 Palestine war]]. Other power plants were built in Tel Aviv, [[Haifa]], and [[Tiberias]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Zion, Ten Years After|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,743439-1,00.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110524090659/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,743439-1,00.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= May 24, 2011|publisher=[[Time magazine]]|date=1932-04-04|access-date=2007-05-12}}</ref>
Jerusalem was the only part of Mandatory Palestine not supplied by Rutenberg's plants. Mavromatis defended the concession for Jerusalem granted to him by Ottoman authorities, and resisted Rutenberg's attempts to build a power station that would serve Jerusalem. Only in 1942, when his [[British-Jerusalem Electric Corporation]] failed to supply the demands of the city, did the Mandatory government ask the Palestine Electric Company to take over the supply of electricity to Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite news|title=An electrifying story|url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=386472|publisher=[[Haaretz]]|last=Naor|first=Mordechai|date=2004-01-25|access-date=2007-05-12|archive-date=2007-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001143838/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=386472|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The Concessions expired after 70 years, i.e., on 3 March 1996, and from that time Israel's Electricity Sector Law - 1996 has applied, replacing the Electricity Concessions Order of 1927 of the Mandatory authorities. (See [[Electricity Authority (Israel)]].)
==Today== The IEC is one of the largest industrial companies in Israel, owning and operating an extensive nationwide power distribution network fed by 50<ref>{{Cite web |title=IEC Investor Presentation 2022, page 16 |url=https://ieccontent.iec.co.il/media/qqmm1bdb/iec-investor-presentation-12-2022-final-hebrew.pdf}}</ref> power station sites with an aggregate installed generating capacity of 22.2 [[Gigawatt|GW]]. Since the end of 2010 the company generates most of its [[Base load power plant|base load]] electricity using [[natural gas]] and [[Diesel fuel|diesel]] plants.<ref>22% is generated using natural gas, 4% using diesel, and a further 30% is generated by "Private Conventional" plants, who use "mainly units in which the main fuel is natural gas".</ref> In 2022, the company sold 76.9 [[TWh]] of electricity. As decided by the government of Israel, around half<ref>According to the Israeli Electric Authority, in 2022, at any given moment, 52% of Watts are generated privately, and sold via the IEC. However, only 49% of WattHours were generated by private companies.</ref> of Israeli electricity is generated privately, and then distributed by the IEC.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2023 |title=IEC Report on the State of the Electricity Sector, Pages 8-9 |url=https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/generalpage/dochmeshek/he/Files_doch_meshek_hashmal_IEC_AnnualReport_2022_nnn.pdf }}</ref>
The [[Orot Rabin]] power station owned by the IEC has Israel's second-tallest structure, a chimney, standing at 300 m, while Tel Aviv's distinctive [[Reading Power Station]] was one of its earliest.
Israeli former Olympic sailor [[Shimshon Brokman]] worked for Israel Electric Corporation from 1988. In 2006, he was appointed Head of the Fuel Management Department.<ref name="engineers.org.il">{{Cite web |url=http://www.engineers.org.il/_Uploads/6879brokman.pdf |title="CURRICULUM VITAE" |access-date=2016-11-21 |archive-date=2016-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122071904/http://www.engineers.org.il/_Uploads/6879brokman.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The company's current CEO is Meir Speigler.<ref>[https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/energy-and-infrastructure/article-718115 Liberman signs on appointment of Electric Company director]</ref>
==Generation capacity== {|class="wikitable" |- align=center !bgcolor=silver width=40%|Plant !bgcolor=silver width=40%|Fuel !bgcolor=silver width=10%|Capacity [MW]
|- align=left |Steam powered power plants||coal, fuel oil, natural gas||6,180 |- align=left |Aeroderivative jet turbines||natural gas, diesel||504 |- align=left |Industrial gas turbines||natural gas||914 |- align=left |[[Combined cycle]]||natural gas||3,357 |- align=left bgcolor=D0E7FF |'''Total'''|| ||'''10,955'''<ref>{{cite web |title=IEC Investor Presentation 2022, page 16 |url=https://ieccontent.iec.co.il/media/qqmm1bdb/iec-investor-presentation-12-2022-final-hebrew.pdf }}</ref> |}
==Palestinian territories== {{see also|Energy in Palestine}} IEC provides power to the [[Palestinian territories]]. It is one of three sources of power for the [[Gaza Strip]]<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/07/electricity-gaza-protective-edge-idf-humanitarian-crisis.html|title=Israel's supply of electricity to Gaza no act of generosity|work=Al-Monitor |date=14 July 2014}}</ref> and the [[West Bank]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-fg-israel-electricity-west-bank-palestinians-20150223-story.html|title=Israel cuts off electricity to thousands of West Bank Palestinians|work=Los Angeles Times|date=23 February 2015 }}</ref> [[Palestine Electric Company PLC|Palestine Electric Company]], founded in 1999 as a subsidiary of Palestine Power Company LLC, operates the [[Gaza Power Plant]], the only power plant in the Gaza Strip, with a generation capacity of approximately 140 MW. PEC was granted by the Palestinian Authority an exclusive right to generate electricity in the Gaza Strip and sell it to PA owned or managed institutions for 20 years, which may be extended for a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms. The company currently does not have any fuel for its generator. Gaza also receives some power from Egypt, though supply is unreliable.<ref name=CNBC>[https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/15/israel-and-gaza-an-electricity-dispute-makes-a-tense-situation-worse.html A dispute over electricity could make an already tense Israeli border worse]</ref> [[Palestine Power Generation Company Plc]], founded in 2010, operates a natural gas power generating plant in the West Bank.
On 23 February 2015, IEC cut off the West Bank power for about 45 minutes due to unpaid bills.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.haaretz.com/2015-02-23/ty-article/.premium/israeli-govt-not-behind-west-bank-power-cuts/0000017f-e5d5-d62c-a1ff-fdff9bef0000|title=Israeli government says not behind electric corp. decision to cut West Bank power – Diplomacy and Defense|newspaper=Haaretz }}</ref> Two days later it again cut off power, stating it was a warning to the PA to begin paying down the debt, which at that time was NIS 1.9 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-cuts-power-to-west-bank-cities-for-second-time/|title=Israel cuts power to West Bank cities for second time|website=[[The Times of Israel]] }}</ref> The majority of the debt is owed by the PA and [[Jerusalem District Electricity Company]] (JDECO) which is a Palestinian electricity firm which buys its power from IEC and serves east Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Jericho areas.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israel-Electric-Corporation-cuts-off-power-in-Palestinian-cities-for-second-time-392163|title=Power cut again in Palestinian cities despite 'collective punishment' accusations|date=25 February 2015 }}</ref> IEC stated that it is losing NIS 85 million per month on power supplied to [[Nablus]] and [[Jenin]] that is not being paid for, causing the majority of IEC's quarterly loss.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-Israel-Electric-to-resume-West-Bank-power-disruptions-1001013466|title=Israel Electric to resume West Bank power disruptions – Globes English|date=25 February 2015 }}</ref> The Palestinians accused IEC of collective punishment,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Feb-23/288447-israeli-electric-company-begins-west-bank-power-cuts-over-debt.ashx|title=Israeli electric company begins West Bank power cuts over debt|date=23 February 2015}}</ref> however, IEC stated that it must operate independently and are treating this as it would any customer who does not pay their bills.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.644099|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150225172204/http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.644099|url-status= dead|archive-date= February 25, 2015|title=Cutting Palestinians' electricity: It isn't just business, its personal – Opinion|newspaper=Haaretz }}</ref>
On 31 March 2016, IEC again cut power to parts of the West Bank, in the [[Jericho]] area, because of the NIS 1.7 billion debt.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-iec-reduces-electricity-supply-to-jericho-1001114010|title=IEC reduces Jericho electricity supply – Globes English|date=31 March 2016 }}</ref> On 4 April, IEC cut power in the [[Bethlehem]] area,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-electric-corporation-to-cut-power-to-bethlehem/|title=Israel Electric Corporation to reduce power to Bethlehem|website=[[The Times of Israel]] }}</ref> and the following day it cut power in the [[Hebron]] area.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Hebron-becomes-latest-city-to-experience-electricity-cut-450353|title=Hebron becomes latest city to experience electricity cut|date=6 April 2016 }}</ref> On 6 April, IEC restored full power to the West Bank after it received a payment of NIS 20 million, and an agreement to receive a full debt repayment schedule within seven days.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Full-power-restored-to-West-Bank-after-PA-takes-step-to-pay-down-NIS-174b-debt-450419|title=Full power restored to West Bank after PA takes step to pay down NIS 1.74b. debt|date=6 April 2016 }}</ref>
From June 2017, the PA informed the IEC that it will no longer to pay the bills for Gaza's electricity. It is said that PA's decision to stop the payments is an effort to undermine rival Palestinian group [[Hamas]], which [[Battle of Gaza (2007)|governs the Gaza Strip on a ''de facto'' basis]].<ref name=CNBC/>
== Community programs == Community programs include ongoing and one-off collaborations with local authorities in community-wide programs, with the Ministry of Education: "Green Electricity" - with "[[Mifal HaPais|Pais]]" Clusters, "Technological Leadership - Green Smart Home" - in collaboration with "[[Taasiada]]", "Green Leadership" - online ORT, the techno in Olga Hill; Cooperation with [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] units for behavioral change in the field of electricity use through the headquarters of the Chief Education Officer of the Tov program (technician and matriculation) in cooperation with the Manufacturers Association, which provides its participants with a technician certificate in addition to the matriculation certificate; And the "Spreading Wing - Adoption of Eagles and Predators in Israel" project in collaboration with the Society for the Protection of Nature to confirm the population of birds of prey.
In addition, the company is expanding its activities in the "Path of Light" program, which promotes the issue of safety and intelligent use of electricity through educational-experiential activities Path of Light – a community educational program. In 2011, about 1,100 schools in 114 authorities throughout Israel took part in the program. About 350 of the company's employees and retirees take part in the program on a voluntary basis, and this year the parents of the students in about 25 localities also joined it.
In 2020, [[INT College]] collaborated with the IEC on advanced technological learning topics. Training was conducted in a variety of fields such as DevOps, Big Data, AWS and more.
The IEC has visitor centers at the power stations: in Haifa, Orot Rabin in [[Hadera]], Rotenberg in [[Ashkelon]] and at the historic Heftziba farm in Hadera.
==See also== *[[Economy of Israel]] *[[Energy in Israel]] * [[Electricity Authority (Israel)]] * [[Science and technology in Israel]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[https://www.iec.co.il/en/ Official site] *[https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-07-19/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/not-even-an-israeli-secret-operation-could-bring-down-the-palestinian-electric-company/00000198-211b-df59-a199-e95ff7d30000 "Not even an Israeli secret operation could bring down the Palestinian electric company"], ''[[Haaretz]]'' {{Energy in Israel}}
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[[Category:Public utilities established in 1923]] [[Category:Government-owned companies of Israel]] [[Category:Electric power companies of Israel]] [[Category:Utilities of Israel]] [[Category:Companies based in Haifa]] [[Category:Government-owned energy companies]]