A generator in the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood of Beirut. (Credit: Nicholas Frakes)
The price of a kilowatt hour (kWh) produced and sold by private or district electricity generators in September fell for the second consecutive month and now stands at LL 30,072 ($0.34) after increasing in July, ending five consecutive months of decline.
This new 4.2 percent drop (from LL 31,381 in August) will be applied to the price of kWh in September to calculate the bills of subscribers to generators that supply electricity to compensate for the structural production deficit of the public supplier Electricite du Liban (EDL) that has persisted for decades. The latter, dependent solely on an agreement with Iraq, has only supplied a handful of hours per day for almost two years now.
The new tariff is calculated based on an average fuel oil price of LL 1,389,235 per 20 liters, down 5 percent compared to August (LL 1,463,160 per 20 litres). The price per kWh is, as usual, increased by 10 percent for operators in mountainous (over 700 meters above sea level) and/or rural areas, which brings it to LL 33,079 ($0.37).
To calculate their bill, each subscriber must multiply the fixed price by the number of kWh corresponding to their consumption and which is read on an individual meter, which the operator is supposed to have installed for them, an obligation that came into force in 2017 but which really started to accelerate from October 2018. However, not all operators have got on board and charge their subscribers flat rates, regardless of the number of hours of electricity supply or consumption. Others require that bills be paid in dollars.
In addition to the price per kWh, there are fixed costs. For a maximum intensity of 5 amperes (A), the monthly package has remained fixed at LL 385,000, while that of an intensity of 10 A is at LL 685,000, prices that have been stable for some time now. The ministry is also imposing an increase estimated this month at LL 300,000 for each additional 5 A from 10 A. These rates also include a margin of 10 percent for the benefit of operators.
For installations connected to a three-phase meter (such as elevators), an additional flat rate is calculated on the basis of a basic capacity. So, for a lift installed with three phases capable of carrying 15A each, the generator owner would only have to pay LL 985,000 and not LL 2,785,000.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.