The Backbone: Construction of a Regional Electricity Grid in the Arabian Peninsula

Abstract

This article studies the production of a power grid across six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, known as "the backbone," which has been conceptualized as an answer to power outages. First it analyzes how experts working with and around the GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) advance claims to a regional territorial imagination. Second, it shows that the construction of the grid not only indicates a shift in the material arrangement of wires and substations, but also necessitates new understandings of transparency and a new formula for the electricity price, facilitating the cutting of government subsidies along with additional price increases. Third, it interrogates how electricity is consumed in the region. Policy-makers expected that electricity price increases would lead to lower rates of consumption. Yet after price hikes were instituted, analysts reported how they had no impact. Users behaved in ways that the grid's engineers did not anticipate. Overall the article shows how various actors conduct "boundary work," that is, how they set limits between the political, the financial and the 1 Thanks to editors Cyrus Mody and Aalok Khandekhar for their close attention to this article. The participants to the Soil, Flesh and Flows: Environmental Temporalities and Expertise in the Middle East workshop at Harvard University, especially Steve Caton, provided invaluable feedback. Bridget Guarasci, Canay Özden-Schilling, Sophia Stamatopoulou-Robbins and Robin Steiner commented on drafts. Thanks also to Laleh Khalili for her engagement with an earlier version of the piece. The article benefited greatly from anonymous reviews. 6 "Lebanon power cuts lead to protests." Utilities Middle East, 6 Aug. 2012. Infotrac Newsstand, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&sw=w&u=uarizona_main&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA298695 278&it=r&asid=f408c1cf24edc57a04963169335b3b91. Accessed 4 Mar. 2017.