Hey, let’s send 55K electric meters to Afghanistan and not use them

The Defense Department and USAID bought a whole bunch of electrical equipment, including 55,000 meters to improve power distribution in Kandahar, Afghanistan, under a series of contracts valuded at $88 million dating back to August 2010.

The Pentagon’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction checked out the power project earlier this year and found supplies nicely shrink-wrapped in warehouses or – in the case of power poles or wire – neatly stacked outside.

The meters, the IG said in a report released Tuesday, have a warranty expiration date of March 2014, which could happen before installation.

That looks likely, the IG reported, due to a finger pointing exercise over which agency and contractor has responsibility for installation – and to date, no install plan has been developed.

This mess has resulted in $12.8 million worth of electrical gear sitting unused in a warehouse. I realize that such a sum is viewed as a rounding error at the Pentagon, but add enough rounding errors together and you end up with real money.