Headquarters of Electricite du Liban (EDL) in Beirut. (Credit: Illustration photo Joao Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Following a sharp increase in the rates for electricity provided by state supplier Electricité du Liban (EDL), many subscribers are rushing to the provider's offices to cancel their contracts, a source within EDL's administration told L'Orient-Le Jour.
The public electricity sector in Lebanon has been in crisis for the past 30 years, and EDL now provides only a few hours of power per day. Subscription rates have since the end of last year been revised sharply upwards. They are now calculated at the rate of the Sayrafa platform, which has increased significantly in recent weeks.
EDL branches in Halba, Abdeh and Qobeiyat, in the Akkar governorate, on Monday witnessed a large influx of subscribers eager to cancel their contracts to escape the high tariffs, our correspondent in the north reported. Most households, in order to fill the gaps in EDL's power supply, already pay high monthly subscription fees to private power suppliers. Other consumers bridge the gaps in state supply by installing solar panels, which have become increasingly common in Lebanon since the start of the socio-economic crisis in 2019.
According to an EDL source, recently more than 2,000 households throughout the country have been unsubscribing from the public network each day, with crowds forming from 6:30 a.m. daily at EDL centers.
According to a schedule sent to L'Orient-Le Jour by the same source, a household subscribed to 15 amperes, for example, would have to pay $7.45 (at the Sayrafa rate) per month for installation and subscription fees alone, even if their actual power consumption is zero. Any power consumed would be charged in addition to the $7.45.
A schedule from EDL showing the subscription rates in dollars and Lebanese lira at an old Sayrafa rate, increased by 20 percent. (Photo D.R.)
According to the source, the regions likely to be most affected by consumers seeking to unsubscribe from EDL are Beirut, Metn and Kesrouan. In these regions bills are paid regularly by subscribers, unlike in some other are where EDL struggles to collect its dues for various reasons, including the refusal of some subscribers to pay their bills.
Illegal connections to EDL's network are also regularly noted. The power provider on March 6 initiated, in coordination with the security services, the first stage of an operation to eliminate encroachments on its network.
On Thursday, the NGO Human Rights Watch said in a report that the electricity crisis is worsening poverty in Lebanon, accusing the government of failing to enforce the "right to electricity.”
Reporting contributed by Michel Hallak
