The higher steering committee of Jordan’s Fils Al-Reef rural electrification programme approved electricity connections and solar systems for about 204 homes and sites in September. Petra reported on October 8 that the total allocation was 648,000 Jordanian dinars. The committee is chaired by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Saleh Kharabsheh. Ministry official Hisham Momani said eligibility had been expanded after amendments to the programme, bringing residential communities and economic activities within its support. The source describes the figure as allocations approved for September projects; it is not reported as cash already spent or the final cost of completed systems.

The breakdown shows the different needs the programme is addressing. JOD185,000 was allocated to residential properties inside and outside municipal zoning boundaries. Livestock farms outside those boundaries, including poultry, cattle, sheep and fish farms, received JOD24,000, while farms with artesian wells were allocated JOD108,000. Productive, industrial, investment, tourism and other economic projects received JOD191,000, subject to creating jobs for Jordanians living in the project areas. A further JOD48,000 was allocated for electricity connections to government projects and JOD11,000 for lighting roads leading to cemeteries. These categories describe the intended allocation, not each group’s eventual electricity use or the number of jobs that will result.

The committee also approved grid-connected solar systems for 52 homes belonging to low-income families and National Aid Fund beneficiaries. The stated purpose is to help reduce monthly electricity costs; the report gives neither an estimated saving nor a completion date. Another JOD29,000 was allocated to upgrade transformer capacity at stations established through Fils Al-Reef over the previous decade, addressing weak supply and power losses. This component concerns strengthening existing distribution infrastructure, rather than adding new generation capacity.

The announcement says applications for electricity connections will continue to be processed under Cabinet-approved criteria and committee decisions. The figures refer to September approvals and programme allocations. The source does not disclose contracts, actual expenditure, commissioning dates, capacity or expected generation for individual projects. It would therefore be inaccurate to present the full allocation as completed investment or calculate how much the solar systems will reduce bills. Still, the condition linking some support to jobs for local Jordanians shows that the programme is combining rural service connections with agriculture and economic activity. Its realized effects can be assessed only after installations and connections are completed and operating data become available.

The allocation detail also makes it possible to distinguish a funding decision from results on the ground. Solar installations could later be tracked by completed systems and the date connections become operational; transformer upgrades could be assessed through capacity or interruption indicators. The announcement contains neither completed-work totals nor before-and-after measurements. The reported beneficiary count should therefore be read as the approximate number of homes and sites covered by approvals, not necessarily the number already receiving service. The distribution of support shows that the programme places public connections and economic activity within one framework. Subsequent implementation information would clarify how much access expanded in rural areas and how much of the approved allocation was actually used.

The allocations individually listed by Petra add up to JOD 596,000, leaving a JOD 52,000 difference against the JOD 648,000 headline total. The report does not itemize that difference, and there is no basis to assign it to solar systems.