A private generator pictured in Mansourieh, Metn district. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros)
The price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) supplied by private or neighborhood generators, which provide power to make up for the shortcomings of the public supplier Électricité du Liban (EDL), has been set at 32,998 Lebanese pounds for December bills, according to the latest update of regulated tariffs by the Ministry of Energy and Water published on Thursday.
This rate is down 5.3 perccent compared with November (LL 34,863). It is also the second consecutive decrease after five months of increases in this rate in pounds. This rate is equivalent to $0.37, converted at the exchange rate used by the ministry for its calculations, i.e. LL 89,700 to the dollar.
In line with standard practice, the price per kWh is increased by 10 percent in mountainous (over 700 m altitude) and/or rural areas, to LL 36,297.
Converted into dollars ($0.39), this base price reaches the levels recorded twice this year, in January and August, and remains lower than the peaks of $0.41 per kWh recorded in September and October. They were lower this year.
The December rate was calculated on the basis of the average price of fuel oil, valued at LL 1,554,493 per 20 liters, down 6.3 percent on the previous month. The average exchange rate used for the calculation was slightly higher: LL89,700 to the dollar in December, as in the previous month.
To calculate their bill, each customer must multiply the price per kWh supplied by the Ministry by their consumption as recorded on an individual meter that the generator owner must have installed. To this must be added a flat-rate charge that varies according to the maximum current delivered in amperes (A).
For a maximum current of 5 A, the monthly charge is set at LL 385,000 (as for the previous month); for a maximum current of 10 A, it is set at LL 685,000 (unchanged). The Ministry also imposes a surcharge estimated this month at 300,000 pounds for each additional 5 amperes above 10 A. These tariffs also include a 10% margin for the benefit of operators.
The Ministry also maintains the specific conditions for elevators and common areas in buildings with a three-phase connection, specifying that their fixed tariffs will be calculated on the basis of a single-phase installation. Example: If the elevator and common areas have a 3 x 15 A three-phase circuit breaker, their fixed rates will be calculated on the basis of a 15 A capacity, not a 45 A capacity, i.e. LL 985,000 in December (unchanged), not LL 2,785,000.
The owners of generators – an illegal sector, but one tolerated because of EDL's chronic shortages – are required to apply the tariffs and guidelines put in place by the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economy and Trade. Many of them have refused to comply, and continue to charge flat rates, sometimes in dollars – which is forbidden. Others go so far as to charge VAT to their subscribers or add extra charges to customers who have installed solar panels.