SIDON/BEIRUT: Residents in many areas of Lebanon experienced a blackout Tuesday after generator owners cut their services in protest against a government decision mandating the installation of meters.
The outage affected those who, based on the rationing schedule, did not receive electricity from the state during those hours and therefore relied on the generators.
Although the economy minister had earlier in the day warned against “escalation,” the owners went ahead with the move from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., just as the Central Committee of Generator Owners in Lebanon had threatened.
Residents in south Lebanon’s Sidon and Tyre, as well as those in Metn, reverted to candles for lighting. Many people in Tripoli and Baalbeck also saw their services cut. (Residents in the Greater Beirut area were not affected by the move.)
“We are protesting the mistreatment of the generator owners. Last week, they called in around 50 generator owners and held an investigation … as to why they had not installed the meters,” Jad Nahle, a spokesperson for the committee of owners, told The Daily Star.
On Oct. 1, a government memo went into effect ordering the owners to install the meters so that subscribers could start paying based on their energy consumption rather than a flat rate.
Some owners have refused to install the meters, claiming the new pricing system would prevent them from making an adequate profit.
Other owners complied with the memo, but Nahle claimed that they did so “out of fear.”
The decision to shut off the generators was announced in a televised news conference by members of the committee, who demanded that the Energy Ministry set a price they deem fair.
“We call on the Energy Ministry to put forward a scientific study to decide the kilowatt-hour pricing and announce this study.
“We also call for giving the generator owners their rights,” a representative of the owners said.
For the month of October, the Energy Ministry pegged the electricity generator subscription rate at LL439 ($0.29) a kilowatt-hour, based on the average market price of 20 liters of diesel for the month of October which it said was LL20,997. The ministry said it also took into account costs and allowed for a “good profit” for the owners.
Caretaker Economy Minister Raed Khoury defended the pricing Tuesday in a televised interview with local news channel LBCI.
He said that the rate had already been increased from LL410 a kilowatt-hour to the current LL439, and had been devised based on studies done by the Energy and Economy ministries.
Generator owners “think they can make profits like they were used to before, but those days are over,” Khoury said.
“A decision was made and it should be implemented. The prices [set by the Energy Ministry] are profitable,” he said.
The minister acknowledged that security forces have been summoning derelict generator owners.
“Security forces are receiving orders from the prosecution to call in owners for investigation,” Khoury said. He added, “There are acts of exploitation and fraud by some [generator owners], and these are offenses punishable by law.”
