Lebanon has secured a $250 million World Bank loan to address its electricity crisis, funding upgrades to substations and transmission, a national energy control center, and renewable energy projects. The government is also exploring electricity imports through different partnerships.

LIMS warned that the effectiveness of any solution is limited as long as Électricité du Liban (EDL) maintains its monopoly. Over 55% of electricity is lost to technical faults and illegal connections, and EDL provides only four hours of power daily despite Iraqi oil supplies and recent price increases. Without sector liberalization—both domestic improvements and imported electricity projects risk failure.

LIMS emphasized that reform must begin with appointing the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), as previously indicated by new government. To be effective, the ERA must operate independently and transparently, with a mandate to liberalize the sector, promote private-sector participation, and dismantle entrenched monopolies and clientelist networks. Opening the electricity market to competition would not only attract private investment but also stimulate job creation and ensure the provision of reliable, sustained, and fairly priced electricity. For the ERA to deliver on these objectives, it should lead a comprehensive restructuring of the sector by separating production, transmission, and distribution, establishing simple regulatory frameworks, and guaranteeing open access to infrastructure for all operators.

LIMS also proposed the possibility of shifting toward decentralized energy production and distribution. Municipalities and municipal unions that own public land should be empowered to legalize private sector establishing solar farms, a move considered critical to resolving Lebanon’s prolonged power crisis.

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