Lebanon cuts power to public bodies as electricity crisis deepens

Beirut, Lebanon – Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water has begun shutting down the supply of electricity to approximately 100 public institutions that have outstanding bill payments, according to local media.

The decision, which began to take effect on Monday, marks a further escalation in Energy Minister Joe Saddi’s dispute with the government. Saddi recently began boycotting cabinet meetings over what he claims is the government’s failure to address his demands to increase power supply, reduce the burden of fuel costs and settle unpaid bills to the state-owned electricity company.

Lebanon has struggled with power cuts for years, but state-provided electricity dropped sharply following the 2019 economic and banking crisis. In Beirut, for example, electricity supplied by the state was once available for about 21 hours a day, but that has dropped in recent years to just two to four hours, with some days seeing no power at all.

Analysts say that deep structural issues are behind the Lebanese state’s failure to provide electricity in recent years and without deep reform, little is likely to change.

“The key problem in the power sector is, as everyone knows, that we have a lot of corruption,” said Jessica Obeid, a Lebanese energy expert. “This sector has corruption across the entire supply chain, and it’s in the billions of dollars, so it is not something that is going to disappear overnight.”

Minister vs the government

In place of a reliable state-provided electricity supply, an alternative economy has emerged where locals rely on private generators, many of which are run by political parties or individuals with close ties to power.

When a government led by reformists took control in early 2025, there was hope that the situation would improve. But more than a year and a half later, state electricity supplies are still meagre, while energy costs and inflation have skyrocketed.

The World Bank projects that year-on-year inflation in Lebanon will be 17.5 percent this year, while fuel costs connected to the United States-Israel war on Iran have meant electricity costs for fuel-guzzling private generators have increased exponentially for many in Lebanon.

“We rely on very expensive diesel, and [state-owned] power plants are very old. All of that means that we cannot be looking for band-aid solutions,” Obeid said. “What the sector is mostly lacking is a vision of what kind of power system we want in this country.”

The dispute over electricity has heightened speculation about a possible cabinet reshuffle and the resignation of Saddi, who is a member of the right-wing Lebanese Forces (LF) party. For his part, Saddi told Lebanese media that he had been pushing the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to prioritise his ministry’s portfolio earlier this year, but had stopped applying as much pressure when Israel’s war on Lebanon intensified in early March.

After the draft 2027 budget was announced in October, the LF and Saddi raised objections, claiming not enough attention was being given to the electricity sector.

And in recent weeks, Saddi has stepped up his efforts to draw attention to the needs of his ministry. In early October, he pledged to start boycotting cabinet meetings. Last Thursday, Saddi was joined in boycotting a cabinet meeting by three ministerial colleagues from his LF party. Saddi said this is a way to pressure the government to give adequate attention and focus to the country’s ongoing electricity crisis.

Sami Zoughaib, an economist and research manager at The Policy Initiative, a Lebanese think tank, told Al Jazeera that the boycott was a political move by Saddi and his party to try and avoid losing popular support.

“If they fail in the eyes of people, it would be very difficult for them to have the ministry again,” Zoughaib said.

Under previous Lebanese governments, the Energy Ministry was at times managed by the LF’s main Christian rival, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). In recent months, the FPM’s leader Gebran Bassil has criticised Saddi’s management of the ministry. Bassil himself is a former energy minister who failed to deliver on his own promises of increasing Lebanon’s state-electricity provision to 24 hours a day.

Little optimism

With the electricity crisis ongoing, Qatar has stepped in to provide a lifeline to the Lebanese state. Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani visited Beirut last month and confirmed plans for an energy partnership, including a solar power project. the Reuters news agency subsequently reported that Doha has offered to build two power plants over the next three years and to supply the country with a 20-year liquefied natural gas supply deal.

Should the deal be approved, it would be a boon to Lebanon’s energy sector. But analysts believe the electricity sector still needs structural reforms for it to meet residents’ needs, including potentially rebuilding the entire grid.

Zoughaib said that the aged energy infrastructure in Lebanon meant the pre-2019 model of providing state-subsidised electricity ate up a significant portion of the government’s yearly budget.

“The state cannot reproduce the model of the past,” he said. “It definitely doesn’t have the money. The way to do it is to reform the entire sector and to try to create a new scenario whereby a sustainable solution is possible.”

Saddi has previously proposed bringing in private investors to run public-private partnerships to solve Lebanon’s energy crisis, a strategy that has become common around the world.

But experts said Lebanon’s lack of stability – suffering through repeated Israeli attacks with the potential for more to come – would deter investors. The country’s failure to reform its financial and banking sectors, seven years after the onset of its economic crisis, would pose another major obstacle.

“When we look for investors who will make that investment, political stability is a key thing of course,” Obeid, the energy expert, said. “Secondly, this is a bankrupt country that has been bankrupt for at least seven years, and nobody has done anything about it, so it does not show any actual will for reform and increases risks [for investment].”

Additionally, she said, Lebanon’s grid is damaged and requires rehabilitation. Experts said that government after government have looked for unsustainable short-term fixes and not had the political will to do more than go after political wins.

“The problem I have in Lebanon is everything is presented as if we are inventing electricity,” Obeid said. “The year is 2026, almost 2027. Lebanon is a very small country. It just needs a vision and someone to take the bold decisions.”