Established less than a year ago to improve governance, transparency and competition in the electricity sector, Lebanon’s Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) has been hit by resignations and operational disruptions before becoming fully functional, renewing questions over its usefulness and viability.

LIMS has rejected attacks against the existence of the ERA stating that officials resigned for personal reasons and they would be replaced. However, the appointment of the ERA’s board marked the first substantive implementation of Law 462. Its mandate extends beyond regulation to creating the institutional framework for market liberalisation through the separation of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. Such unbundling is intended to establish clearer accountability, improve operational efficiency and enable the entry of the private sector into segments of the electricity market that have historically been monopolised by the state.

For more than two decades, successive energy ministers delayed the implementation of Law 462 of 2002 and the appointment of the ERA, while preserving the vertically integrated structure of the state-owned utility, Electricité du Liban (EDL). LIMS argues that under that system, EDL was responsible of roughly $40bn in public liabilities while consumers endured 20h of daily power shortages, distribution losses exceeding 45 per cent and the near collapse of the utility’s financial position. The latest criticism of the ERA reflects continued resistance from vested interests that benefited from the existing model.

LIMS also cautioned against repeated proposals based on publicly financed large infrastructure projects, including electricity imports from Cyprus and other centrally planned solutions. Instead, a more durable recovery would emerge from a competitive market in which the ERA licenses new private generators and distributors, allowing private investment to drive expansion and innovation bottom up. In this view, the regulator is not simply another public institution but the cornerstone of a transition from a politically managed electricity sector to one governed by competition and independent oversight.

• mporting Gas for Electricity Generation: An Old Project Revived… Pros and Cons? June 1, 2026: Aljoumhouria, Op-ed (AR)
• Implementing Law 462: Toward Breaking State Monopoly and Involving the Private Sector in Electricity. June 2, 2026: VDL, Audio interview (AR)
• Between Law and Reality: What Is Preventing the Regulatory Authority from Saving the Energy Sector? June 26, 2026: Aljadeed, Video interview (AR)
• Despite the Challenges… The Regulatory Authority Is Driving the Reform of the Electricity Sector. June 26, 2026: Sputnik, Video interview (AR)
• From Zahle to All Lebanon: A Model Breaking the Electricity Monopoly. June 29, 2026: VDL, Video interview (AR)