This Day in History (1962): Desco Expands Power In Eastern Province

From the Feb. 28, 1962, edition of the Sun and Flare

In accordance with an agreement, signed Feb. 24 in Dhahran, Aramco will extend financial and other types of assistance in the construction of a new power plant for the Dhahran Electric Supply Company (Desco), which will use natural gas to generate electricity.

The agreement provides that Aramco will supply standby power while the plant is being built, and will install tie-in lines between its own power plant in Dhahran, and the projected Desco plant three miles to the north.

The plant will require about two years to complete. Units driven by combustion gas turbines will be able to generate approximately 12,000 kilowatts of electricity, or about twice the amount of the present Desco plant.

The site of the new generating station was chose to allow for future expansion of the power plant to meet the growing demands for electricity in the coastal area of the Eastern Province.

For its part, Desco has agreed to make substantial reductions in the rates it charges for electricity. The current rate for domestic consumers is 7 Saudi gurush per kilowatt-hour; industrial consumers pay less.

The first reduction will take place sometime this summer, and subsequent reductions will go into effect on a set schedule over the next few years.

Caption for top photograph: DESCO-ARMACO AGREEMENT was signed Saturday morning in the office of I.M. Synder, vice president and general manager of Operations. Signatories were from left: Sundyer, Aramco treasurer E.G. Voss and Desco Board chairman 'Abd al-Rahman al-Suhaimi. Sa'ad al-Mo'jil, vice chairman of Desco looks on. Others present at the ceremony, standing fromleft, were: Mohammed Ba Bitain, Desco director-delegate; Zafer H. Husseini, acting banking administrator, G.O. Treasurer's Department; R.L. Stauffer coordinator, and 'Abd al-Rahman Khatib, liaison representative, Techincal Assistance Division, A.D.D., and L.E. Goodyear, Law Department.

Also on this date

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1993 — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas, starting a 51-day standoff

1986 — Olof Palme, Prime Minster of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm

1983 — The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with nearly 106 million people watching -- the record for the highest viewership of a finale

1974 — The British election ended in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieves their biggest vote

1966 — Astronauts Elliot See and Charles Basset crash into McDonnell Aircraft Building 101 at Lambert Field in St. Louis, killing both instantly

1953 — James Watson and Francis Crick announce they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; a formal announcement takes place on April 25

1929 — Hayden Fry, football player and coach, is born in Eastland, Texas

1638 — The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh

1525 — Aztec king Cuauhtemoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernan Cortez