Parliament Approves Amendments to Implement Electricity Plan

The Parliament passed on Wednesday amendments necessary to implement an ambitious plan to restructure the country's crumbling electricity sector.

Restructuring the power sector, dysfunctional since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, has been among key demands for reforms by the World Bank and international donors.

Lawmakers have turned down a proposal submitted by Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan on appointing a regulatory body in a maximum period of six months, LBCI TV station said.

The electricity plan was approved by a large majority in parliament, days after it was agreed on by the government. It aims to eventually bring electricity to the Lebanese 24 hours a day, securing an additional 1,450 megawatts of temporary power by next year so that total output will reach 3,500 megawatts — enough to provide power around the clock.

In the longer term, the plan calls for power production to be increased by more than 3,000 megawatts over the next six years by building new plants and relying more on renewable energy.

Lebanese officials hope that plans to fix the electricity sector that has cost state coffers about $2 billion annually would lead to the release of $11 billion in loans and grants made by international donors at the CEDRE conference in Paris last year.