Shaping ERA

Shaping the ERA aims to support the establishment of an Electricity Regulatory
Authority (ERA) to unbundle the national utility and license new entrants.
Currently, Lebanon maintains a monopoly on electricity through Électricité du
Liban (EDL), despite Law 462 of 2002 mandating sector liberalization. The law
created the ERA, yet its members were never appointed.

Meanwhile, EDL supplies only 4 hours of electricity per day at a high cost of 27 cents/kWh. Although actual generation costs are around 15 cents, distribution, managed by Distribution Service Providers (DSPs), suffers from 45% losses caused by theft and unpaid bills. As a result, EDL cannot generate enough revenue to cover fuel expenses, depends on government subsidies and enforces severe daily power rationing.
Private diesel generators fill the gap and supply the remaining 20 hours daily. They operate illegally, without licenses, and they charge high rates (33–60 cents/kWh). Their generators are noisy and polluting, and they tend to monopolize neighborhoods. Their unpopularity makes officials reluctant to legitimize them, despite their 100% bill collection, while the absence of the ERA makes its impossible to license legal new entrants. Individual solar panels are spreading among those who can afford them, but commercial solar farms remain blocked due to the lack of an ERA to license them.
“Shaping the ERA” will work with international academics and experts to help design solutions that enables electricity sector reform.