BEIRUT — On Wednesday, the South Lebanon Water Establishment (SLWE) informed its subscribers of a decrease in water supply due to the suspension of the electric utility line, which affects all Lebanese regions.

SLWE's Director General was not immediately available to provide additional information on the current situation.

Simultaneously, criticism emerged against former Energy Minister Walid Fayad, accusing him of causing a crisis by increasing the electricity supply before leaving the Ministry without a clear long-term plan.

On Wednesday, Change MP Waddah Sadek said that Fayad decided to waste the existing fuel under the pretext that he wanted to increase the electricity supply to more than 10 hours a day before he left the Ministry, adding that this "coincided with the failure to send two vessels that were supposed to arrive in Lebanon with fuel for unknown reasons."

"Thus the former minister, perhaps intentionally, brought us to a crisis that could escalate," Sadek said.

Not the first time

This is not the first time that Sadek has criticized Fayad. In 2022, he accused Fayad of taking orders from the former Energy Minister Nada Boustani, affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). Two years later, he said after a meeting of the former Cabinet's Works Committee that "the only thing he took away from the meeting is that the Energy Minister needs ... lessons in respecting others."

Contacted by L'Orient Today, the MP was not immediately available to comment.

Meanwhile, Electricité du Liban (EDL) sources told local news site Lebanon 24 on Wednesday that the amount of fuel allocated for power generation in Lebanon is only enough for a maximum of 12 days, which raises the possibility of a complete and total blackout between Feb. 23 and 25. Another source contacted by L'Orient Today stated that a statement clarifying the situation was being prepared. The source added that the last fuel shipment received by the public electricity provider had arrived as scheduled at the beginning of the month and that the next one was scheduled for the end of February.

The same news site revealed on Jan. 18 that there was confusion at EDL and some financial institutions in Lebanon caused by the Energy Ministry's statement about EDL's ability to increase the electricity supply from six to 11 or 12 hours, echoing Sadek's comments regarding the roots of the crisis.

Technical sources in EDL stated that "the request of increasing the electricity supply came from a political background,” explaining that last month, the "Ministry intended to make an achievement by increasing electricity, allowing the political party that controlled it — the FPM — to justify claiming the Energy Ministry in the new government, as it had gradually raised the supply from an hour to 11-12 hours."

Despite that, Joe Saddi was appointed Energy Minister last Saturday on the proposal of the Lebanese Forces. This is the first time since 2008 that the Energy Ministry is not in the hands of FPM.

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Handover between Fayad and Saddi

The handover process between Saddi and Fayad took place today at the Energy Ministry, where Fayad listed some of the things "accomplished" by the Ministry during his tenure, including the "implementation of the national emergency plan in its first phase, allowing an increase of electricity supply to between 9 and 11 hours of electricity per day."

Addressing the new minister, Fayad said, "We expect you to continue to raise the supply to the maximum level permitted by the efficient power plants [12-14 hours of supply]."

In his speech, Saddi did not promise the Lebanese people a specific number of hours of supply, unlike previous energy ministers who were often inaccurate in their predictions.

"I will only promise the Lebanese, who are tired of promises, one thing: I will dedicate all my expertise, energy and relationships to serve them through this ministry," Saddi said.

Deficient for years in terms of production capacity in relation to the country's demand, EDL's situation deteriorated considerably with the multidimensional crisis that erupted in 2019. It began to slowly recover after the government approved an adjustment of its tariffs to market prices at the end of 2022. Its situation is still far from ideal, insofar as its only source of fuel supply comes from an agreement with Iraq, in place since the summer of 2021. The Iraqi and Lebanese governments recently gave the go-ahead for a further extension of this agreement until the end of January 2026, with an increase in the quantities supplied.

With the fuel recovered, EDL can only operate two of its thermal power plants at best, Zahrani and Deir Ammar, near Tripoli in North Lebanon, while those at Zouk (Kesrouan) and Jiyyeh (Chouf) remain idle.