The president of the municipality of Tripoli (North Lebanon), Abdel Hamid Karime, during a raid targeting several owners of electricity generators in different neighborhoods of the city, on Oct. 23, 2025. (Credit: Photo received by our correspondent in the region, Michel Hallak.)
TRIPOLI — Tripoli authorities on Thursday raided several private electricity generators across the city, seizing non-compliant units and temporarily placing them under municipal management, officials said. The operations were conducted in coordination with State Security and supported by the ministries of Energy and Environment, following numerous citizen complaints about inflated electricity rates.
Inspectors found violations, including charging rates above the official Energy Ministry ceiling and operating without installed meters. Generators found in breach of regulations were seized and temporarily placed under municipal management pending legal proceedings.
Under the ministry’s latest price list, operators are required to charge between $0.34 and $0.37 per kilowatt-hour, depending on a 10 percent surcharge applied to installations in sparsely populated or mountainous areas. Fixed fees are also mandated, particularly for three-phase systems.
The raids were carried out in the presence of Tripoli Mayor Abdel Hamid Karimeh and the head of the North Lebanon economic service. Karimeh said the municipality “will not tolerate any offender who exploits residents’ needs or breaks the law,” emphasizing that “justice will be applied to all without exception.”
Similar operations have recently been conducted in Beirut, Saida and Sour as part of a wider campaign to curb abuses by private generator operators, who provide electricity during outages caused by Électricité du Liban’s inability to supply power continuously.
Reporting contributed by our correspondent in North Lebanon, Michel Hallak
