24 April 2009

A Bright Idea

As we walked down the cobblestone road, we breathed in the smells and sounds of the Korza (core-zuh), the pedestrian-only main road and city center: fresh bread, perhaps burek; techno jamming in the cafés and bars so that we almost feel we’re in Italy; and the beautiful mountains that surround and backdrop the city of about 90,000. In an instant, the music in the cafés disappears and all the lights shut off in the Korza. Burr-umm-hum-hummm…fills the street that was pleasant only moments ago. It is the sound of power generators, a struggling business’ only shot at keeping its light on and attracting customers—if they can stand the overwhelming hum, that is.

Would you rather have stable electricity or live in an independent country?

For many Kosovars in the last 12 years, unstable electric service was a tolerable in-convenience while the much more important drive for independence was underway. However, in the 15 months since the declaration of independence, their patience has worn thin.

Blackouts vary by city and neighborhood, but a common day might include 3 outages of 2 hours each. At a macro level, regular outages affect the people’s ability to plan ahead and walk surely in their plans. For example, while we were in Peja last November, we planned to take a quick shower before meeting some missionaries—just as the power went out, which meant no lights, hot water, or water pressure (read further to find out how electricity affects water supply). We took cold-water bucket showers and lit candles, which made us late and cold. By the next couple outages, we were too cold to continue and surrendered to stink.

Who is at fault and who is responsible to fix it?

Kosovo’s electric infrastructure was built during communist Yugoslavia (beginning after WWII) and is run today by a government-owned utility company. It is not difficult to imagine why Kosovo’s power grid did not receive much-needed maintenance and upgrades while the Yugoslav republics were at war in the 1990s and Kosovo itself was breaking away in 1998-99. The consequences of this neglect today are the unfortunate responsibility of the new newly independent government. By some estimates this government has the daunting challenge of procuring energy for the country that consumes 10 times the amount that it produces, and would consume much more if it were available!

It is an open secret today that many Kosovars cannot pay—or refuse to pay—their electric bills. Some Kosovoars don’t pay because they can’t make ends meet due to unemployment. Some refuse to pay out of dissatisfaction with the interruptions in their service and suspicions that government corruption is behind it. And still others don’t pay because no one else pays.

What does this mean for everyday life?

- Apartments above ground level may rely on a water pump to boost city water supply to their faucets, so when the power stops, so does water! (Some begin their showers by filling a bucket with water to avoid getting stuck with shampoo in their hair!)
- Homes almost never have central heat/air, and, instead, have a combination of other heat sources: propane gas units, electric radiators, and wood burning stoves.
- Hygiene, cooking, cleaning (not to mention leisure activities) are subject to interruption! Some weeks, everyday life can feel strangely hard to “foreigners.”
- Coffee bars and other businesses often run gas-powered electric generators, which can make for noisy walks down the sidewalk.

Talk about an opportunity waiting to be seized by a firm with resources to invest …and many small opportunities for small-time entrepreneurs and servant leaders to meet specific needs. While we don’t have immediate plans to start up an alternative energy campaign, we are, in order to understand more about the region’s opportunities, researching feasible alternative energy sources for Peja—what they’ve tried, what has worked, what hasn’t, and why.