It is important to develop a suitable model to calculate electricity demand forecasting requested by decision makers. The present study deals with the electrical long-term peak load demand forecasting using a developed Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) methods. The MLR model is formulated as a function of population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The Neuro-Fuzzy is thereafter trained using previous sets of data. This training gives a future annual electricity load prediction. The results obtained from the developed models have an acceptable level of mean errors. In general, the GCC region has high-energy consumption influenced by a number of factors, such as population and GDP. The annual variation of both population and GDP growth scenarios is based on development in the country. The obtained results will encourage the GCC through the energy field development and setting the future plans for it. The novelty of the present study is to avoid an increase in generation capacity in mid-term and long-term plans, which will help the GCC countries to avoid load shedding and meet the energy demands in different sectors. The developed models will help the economic development of the GCC countries. It also helps with finding the optimum time for electrical energy trading. The obtained results for the GCC illustrate the average percentage error calculated which was found to be close to 2% and 0.53% in multilinear regression and Neuro-Fuzzy, respectively. These results reduce capital investment, limiting the equipment installed and the expected load needed for better load distribution in the region. In conclusion, the Neuro-Fuzzy is the most accurate technique compared with MLR to estimate future electricity demand and, at the same time, it can be used in power system planning and development. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the University of Bahrain.