The Lebanese Electricity Crisis: The Role of Non-State Energy Providers

Abstract

For decades, Lebanon has suffered from daily power outages, as the state utility Électricité du Liban (EDL) only covers 63 per cent of electricity demand. Recently, the situation has deteriorated further. The project employs a case study research design to investigate the political economy of the Lebanese electricity sector, focusing on alternative providers to state electricity. The first part of the project briefly accounts for the current state of the electricity sector and the main factors that have led to the country’s electricity deficit. Then, it suggests that the generator sector can be understood through Yiftachel’s concept of grey spaces, and it applies elements from Timothy Mitchell’s Carbon Democracy framework to explore new and existing actors, the alliances and relationships between them and the struggle to control (backup) electricity supply in four different urban areas in Lebanon. The report will then argue that the dynamics of electricity contribute to the production and reproduction of economic inequalities. Based on these findings, the project includes the concept of hybridity to discuss how the division between public and private in Lebanon is best understood. The study is based on secondary sources, and more robust findings thus call for further research and data-collection.