Report: Caesar Act Blamed for Increasing Power Cuts in Lebanon

The US Caesar Act that punishes sides who cooperate with the Syrian regime, caused the electricity that Lebanon draws from Syria to be cut off more frequently, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported Friday.

Member of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary bloc, MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, said that “Lebanon does not pay the price of the electricity it rents from Syria, and hesitates to renew the contract,” fearing “Caesar Act,” said the newspaper.

Lebanon draws annually from Syria about 220 megawatts of electricity to supply Lebanon’s electrical grid, which suffers from a production problem.

Hajj Hassan reportedly told a delegation from the town of al-Tufail on the border with Syria, who met him complaining about electricity cut offs, “the problem is not only in Tufail, but in Lebanon as a whole.”

"We are importing electricity from Syria to support the entire Lebanese electricity grid, but unfortunately, after the Caesar Act, some officials in Lebanon got frightened, even though importing electricity from Syria is a need for Lebanon, because electricity production in Lebanon is not enough,” the daily quoted Hassan as saying.

He added that “Lebanon is hesitant to renew the contract with Syria, and is not paying its dues, because of the confusion in its internal and regional Lebanese policies, and the fear of unjustified sanctions from American arrogance dominating the world.”