Geagea: The Electricity Crisis Can No Longer Tolerate the Philosophy of Time Management

Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces Party, stated that "the crisis currently witnessed by the electricity sector cannot be reduced to a decrease in supply hours, nor should it be treated as a transient technical problem that can be postponed from one government session to another," considering that "what is happening has become a real test of the state and government's ability to move from the stage of diagnosing the crisis, which lasted for several decades, to the stage of taking the required decisions to address it." He stressed that "the electricity crisis can no longer tolerate the philosophy of time management, because every day that the required decisions are delayed means fewer hours of state electricity, and consequently an additional step towards total darkness, a larger bill for generators, and an additional cost on families, institutions, and the Lebanese economy," affirming that "what is required today is a decision, not a new diagnosis, and implementation, not further shifting of responsibilities."

Geagea's remarks came during his meeting in Meerab with the party's "Legal Professions" interest group, attended by: MP George Akiki, Executive Bureau members Maya Zaghrini and Bashir Matar, Secretary General Emil Makrezel, Secretary of the "Strong Republic" bloc Saeed Malek, Assistant Secretary for Interests Nabil Abu Jaouda, Assistant Secretary for Regions George Eid, member of the Beirut Bar Association Council Elie Hachache, Head of the Second Chamber in the Party's Honor Council George Fiani, Head of the Party's Prosecution Office Andre Sarkouk, Legal Affairs Advisor to the Party President Fadi Zarifa, Head of the Legal Committee in the Strong Republic Bloc Robert Toma, Head of the Legal Affairs Unit Eliane Fakhri, Keserwan Coordinator Michel Jamal, Candidate for the Beirut Bar Association Riad Chidiac, Head of the Legal Professions Interest Group Pascal Morad, members of the Central Council, North Free Professions Coordinator Joseph Saadeh, Head of the North Department in the Interest Group Joseph Abdo, Vice Head of the Legal Professions Interest Group Milad Tabit, members of the Interest Group offices, heads of lawyers' offices in the regions, appellate lawyers, and trainee lawyers.

Commenting on recent developments in the electricity file and Energy and Water Minister Joe Sadi's announcement of boycotting cabinet sessions until the government takes the required decisions to address the crisis, while continuing to perform his duties at the ministry and follow up on the reform workshop, Geagea said: "The main problem is known: Lebanon does not have sufficient production capacity, and existing plants currently provide only about a third of the country's energy needs. This reality is not a product of recent months, but the result of years of accumulation during which the required investments in production were not completed, while billions of dollars were spent on purchasing fuel oil instead of building a sector capable of providing electricity sustainably."

He added: "Since Joe Sadi took over the Ministry of Energy and Water, a different path was established based on rebuilding the sector on clear institutional and economic foundations, foremost among them applying the law and activating the regulatory body, reorganizing the distribution and collection sectors, opening the field for the private sector to invest in production, and working with the International Finance Corporation affiliated with the World Bank Group to prepare the necessary legal, technical, and financial framework to attract investors."

Geagea noted that "initial results confirm actual interest in investing in Lebanon, whether in traditional power plants or renewable energy, but the investor who is asked to place hundreds of millions or billions of dollars in Lebanon naturally wants to know how he will recover his investment, how Electricite du Liban will be able to meet its obligations, and whether the sector is based on a viable financial model or a mechanism that will reproduce the same deficit." He continued: "Hence, there can be no talk of serious investments without financial sustainability for Electricite du Liban, nor financial sustainability in the presence of high non-technical losses, incomplete collection, public institutions that do not pay what they owe, and tariffs that do not react to the significant change in fuel costs. Here specifically lies the danger of what is happening today."

Geagea pointed out that "if the price of imported fuel oil for electricity production has nearly doubled in recent months, it is obvious that the quantities the institution can purchase with the same revenues will decrease significantly," noting that "this explains the decline in supply after it had reached about seven or nine hours daily last February, without a treasury advance or new borrowing, before the large increase in fuel prices led to a decline in the ability to purchase fuel oil and a drop in supply to low levels."

Regarding the tariff issue, Geagea said: "The proposal for a moving tariff is not an accounting detail nor an arbitrary increase on citizens, but a mechanism that is supposed to link the cost of electricity to the cost of its production: the tariff rises when fuel oil prices rise and falls when they fall. Most importantly, the correct comparison is not between the current Electricite du Liban bill and the Electricite du Liban bill after the tariff adjustment, but between the total cost paid by the citizen to obtain electricity from the state and private generators together." He added: "According to the figures presented by the Ministry of Energy, each additional hour of public supply can reduce the total amount Lebanese people pay to generators by tens of millions of dollars monthly. Consequently, increasing supply is not merely an improvement in service, but a direct reduction in the cost borne by families, institutions, and the economy."