Lebanon's electricity production is significantly below the country's demand. This discrepancy has led to widespread power outages and an unreliable. More than 40 years into Lebanon's chronic electricity crisis, power cuts remain a daily reality, with recent blackouts during peak summer heat also disrupting water supplies and other essential services. Frequent power cuts, lasting for several hours each day, have become a norm for many Lebanese households and businesses. Some hope to revive the existing system, built around a centralized and fossil-fueled grid run by the parastatal Electricité du Liban (EDL), with natural gas imported from Egypt or the Mediterranean. Controversial though the announcement was, the price hike promises to partially narrow EDL's yawning deficit and unlock. As a result, EDL can only provide electricity for as little as 1-2 hours each day in 2022, leaving the country in a persistent state of power shortages.
[PDF Version]