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Viewing cable 07KABUL291, JCMB SUCCESS - "TEA CLUB" APPROVES EMBASSY ENERGY WHITE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07KABUL291 2007-01-28 10:21 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Kabul
VZCZCXRO8686
OO RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #0291/01 0281021
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281021Z JAN 07 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5751
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC 0314
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 1549
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000291 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/A, SCA/FO (A/S BOUCHER, GASTRIGHT, DEUTSCH) 
STATE PASS USTDA FOR DSTEIN/SGREENIP 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR MOSBACHER AND ZAHNISER 
MANILA PLEASE PASS ADB/USED 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN 
USAID/AA/ANE FOR JKUNDER 
TREASURY FOR ABAUKOL, VELTRI 
 
SENSITIVE, SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG ECON EPET ETRD KPWR EAID PGOV AF
SUBJECT:  JCMB SUCCESS - "TEA CLUB" APPROVES EMBASSY ENERGY WHITE 
PAPER AS THE WAY FORWARD ON POWER GENERATION POLICY 
 
Ref:   A) Kabul 274 
 
        B) Kabul 162 and previous 
  C) Kabul 137 
 
KABUL 00000291  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
(U) This message contains SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFED INFORMATION. 
Not for Internet Distribution.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
1.(SBU) SUMMARY:  JCMB "Tea Club" members welcomed the USG energy 
paper (refs A & B) and agreed that it would eventually be presented 
to the GoA as a donor paper.  Members recommended further 
consultation with India, who was not invited to the meeting, and the 
World Bank, who had additional technical comments.  Participants 
agreed that the energy paper would demonstrate the political 
importance of energy and power in the success of Karzai's government 
and that this could be an issue that could surface during or on the 
margins of the Berlin JCMB.  As a catalyst for action to complete 
the North East Power System and for acquisition of additional 
hydrocarbon generation systems for Kabul before the 2009 elections, 
the paper is becoming another JCMB success story.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.(SBU) The paper stressed the need to make the Inter-Ministerial 
Commission on Energy (ICE) the focal for energy policy discussions 
with the GOA.  The ICE could be a mechanism to stem 
inter-ministerial confusion and power grabbing and stimulate 
cooperation on energy issues.  The German Ambassador suggested that 
if the ICE did not succeed, donors should look at establishing a 
powerful independent agency that could force rural electrification, 
"like that created by Lenin in the Soviet Union."  Acting Econ 
Counselor responded that the U.S. paper built on the April energy 
white paper's recommendation to create the ICE.  Given Afghanistan's 
democratic government, he suggested that the Tennessee Valley 
Authority would be a better model for rural electrification. 
 
3.(SBU) The Tea Club agreed that the creation of ICE should not 
divert resources from building the capacity of the line ministries. 
Donors should fund a small ICE secretariat, but it should remain 
located at the Ministry of Energy and Water to ensure effective 
coordination.  As we move forward, donors and the GOA would need to 
define carefully the balance between ICE and the various line 
ministries in terms of responsibility, accountability, and technical 
work.  Tea Club members noted that ICE's authority to task line 
ministries and to hold them accountable for performance would need 
to be clarified and strengthened. 
 
4.(SBU) The group determined that the paper could be improved 
through further technical discussion in the ANDS Working Group on 
Energy and through the JCMB process.  Based on the German 
Ambassador's recommendation, participants agreed that increasing the 
supply of power to Kabul and other major population centers prior to 
the 2009 general elections should be a key GOA objective, and that 
discussion of this issue could surface at the Berlin JCMB. Acting 
Econ Counselor argued that to achieve this goal, Afghanistan will 
need to invest urgently in new hydrocarbon generation capacity in 
Kabul. 
 
5.(SBU) Donors agreed that funding will need to be identified 
quickly for projects to build new distribution networks in cities 
along the NEPS power transmission lines, to ensure inter-NEPS 
technical compatibility, and to guarantee inter-NEPS technical and 
policy coordination.  (NOTE:  It is not clear that the Pul-e-Khumri 
to Kabul transmission line that India is constructing will be able 
to carry simultaneously the power from all three providers - 
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.  END NOTE.)  UNAMA 
suggested that donors may wish to contact their PRTs to consider 
whether they are in a position to meet some of the gaps on the 
distribution side.  With the Afghan national utility slated for 
corporatization early in 2007, donors will also need to support its 
evolution into a credible regulatory authority. 
 
6.(SBU) COMMENT:  Our White Paper was an analytical piece, 
identifying the principal issues facing Afghanistan's energy sector. 
 Working with the donors, we plan on converting it to an 
actions-needed paper to present to the GOA.  The JCMB mechanism is 
producing donor consensus on a way forward to work towards 
delivering power to Kabul and other major population centers prior 
to the 2009 general elections.  The mechanism is galvanizing donors 
 
KABUL 00000291  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
to spur the GOA to complete negotiations with Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to bring NEPS on line in time.  In 
addition, the paper alerted donors that the GOA will need 18-24 
months to receive the hydrocarbon gensets that are equally necessary 
to ensure the lights are on when Afghans next go to the polls.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
Neumann