Geagea urges involving private sector in power generation

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday noted that the electricity crisis of the past two days proves that the management of the electricity sector has been a “total failure” for the past 15 years.

“There is not a single indication that this management will change, and accordingly only one solution remains: involving the private sector immediately in the process of producing electricity and distributing it across Lebanon,” Geagea said.

He accordingly called on the head of the public works parliamentary committee, MP Sajih Atiyeh, to speed up the discussion of one or two draft laws in his possession in order to send them to the Joint Committees as soon as possible.

Geagea also called on Speaker Nabih Berri to call for an urgent parliamentary session in order to “pull the Lebanese citizen out of darkness.”

The state-run Zahrani Oil Installations on Saturday pumped five million liters of fuel oil on loan to the Zahrani power plant through the supply line that connects them, a day after Lebanon’s state utility Electricité du Liban announced that its power plants had exhausted their supply of fuel oil and would stop producing electricity.

In a statement, the Installations director general said the process started after “completing all the administrative, technical and legal files.” The director general, however, noted that power supply would only benefit the state’s vital facilities and that the decision was taken after marathon negotiations.

Lebanon has struggled with severe electricity shortages for years, particularly since the country fell into a protracted financial crisis in 2019.

Homes and businesses rely largely on generators and, increasingly, solar panels for power as the state typically supplies electricity only a few hours a day.

The meager state electricity supply relies on fuel oil provided by Iraq, but issues have arisen between the two countries due to Lebanon not having paid for the supply.