State Security conducts a tour in Beirut to ensure the regularization of private generators, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (Illustrative photo from the NNA)
As the deadline granted by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government for the regularization of private generators expired on Saturday, Economy Minister Amer Bisat explained during a press conference that "six generators were inspected across Beirut" on Tuesday, leading to the issuance of "legal notices." For its part, the State Security service specified that it had issued eight legal notices, in a statement published the same day.
The government had given private generator owners in Lebanon 45 days in mid-August "to regularize their situation" under threat of legal action. This regularization included three measures: the installation of individual meters, filters, and compliance with tariffs published monthly by the Ministry of Energy.
"The circular (No. 31/2025) was published and disseminated by the media, and I rule out the possibility that some were unaware of it," said the minister.
In an interview with L'Orient-Le Jour at the end of August, Amer Bisat had warned: "Either the generator owners commit to respecting the law and their demands will be discussed afterward, or they refuse and we will use the legal tools at our disposal." A week ago, as the deadline approached, he issued a new warning to generator owners.
"Today (Tuesday), six generators were inspected across Beirut. They were selected due to their size and repeated violations. Violations were recorded, and for the first time a legal notice was issued against violators," the minister said. "We have referred these violations to the financial public prosecutor, who will personally follow up on the procedures and will communicate his findings to us within fifteen days," Bisat specified. "This campaign and the accompanying measures are not intended to hinder the generator owners but to establish a responsible partnership with them," he emphasized.
"We started [the inspections] in Beirut, but we will continue them throughout all regions of Lebanon: All monitoring agencies of the Ministry of Economy will be spread across the country, supported by security agencies, and under the authority of the law and justice," Bisat added, notably thanking State Security.
Eight legal notices
During a tour Tuesday, "as part of its ongoing efforts to combat violations related to electric generators," State Security issued "eight legal notices against violators, regarding pricing and meters." "In Ashrafieh, legal notices were issued. The tour also covered the neighborhoods of Sabra, Msaytbeh, and Mar Elias, where legal notices were filed," the statement specified.
Bisat also stressed that the inspections targeted major generators in the capital, located in "all its areas," in response to a question about possible political cover benefiting private generator owners.
The penalties, specified in the ministerial circular, include "the issuance of legal notices, the seizure and confiscation of generators, and the referral of offenders to the competent judicial authorities." Before the government’s decision to regularize the sector, one third of the nearly 7,000 private generators managed by neighborhood owners were not in compliance, according to a survey by the Ministry of Economy conducted in early 2025 based on 750 generators across the country.
Private generators, although illegal, are essential in Lebanon’s energy sector, compensating since the civil war (1975-1990) for the shortcomings of the public sector. Since the crisis, the public utility Electricité du Liban (EDL) has been nearly absent, providing today an average of only 6 hours of electricity per day.
