Israel - Renewable energy incentives get boost

Electricity prices for Israeli manufacturers using renewable energy fell 1 percent Sunday, following an order by the Public Utilities Authority. Manufacturers who use renewable energy sources also saw a 3.5 percent rise in the state incentive premiums they receive, according to a report in the Israeli business newspaper Globes. The Public Utilities Authority also rejected over the weekend an Israel Electric Corp. request to raise prices by 11 percent, the newspaper said. The Public Utilities Authority made its decision after discovering the state-run utility company had made unauthorized changes to its fuel mix, in contravention of existing regulations, the report said. These changes, such as an alteration to the maintenance schedule of a coal-fired power plant, raised production costs, the report said. The Israel Electric Corp. has struggled to meet some of the authority's directives in the past few months. On March 1, the company was forced to close its Reading power station in Tel Aviv when it missed the deadline to convert the station to run on natural gas. The Reading station was recently reopened after the Israel Electric Corp. resolved the dispute with Israel Natural Gas Lines over maintenance blueprints that had been holding up the conversion.