Energy Minister Joe Saddi to boycott Cabinet sessions over EDL arrears, electricity reforms

Energy Minister Joe Saddi announced he would boycott Cabinet sessions until decisions are taken to settle exemptions and overdue payments owed to Electricité du Liban (EDL).

Speaking at a news conference, Saddi said Lebanon’s main electricity problem is insufficient generation capacity, which currently meets only about one-third of demand.

He said the private sector should invest in Lebanon’s energy sector and operate power plants, but talks with international investors showed they require financial and security guarantees. According to Saddi, 24 companies have expressed interest in investing, primarily on the condition that financial guarantees are provided.

Saddi said necessary investments had not been made in the past and that depositors’ money had instead been spent on fuel purchases. 

He stressed the need to make EDL financially sustainable through its own resources, calling for a flexible electricity tariff linked to fuel prices and action against nontechnical losses, which he said account for about 30% and described as “theft.”

On natural gas, Saddi said the ministry is seeking to ensure Lebanon has independent options for importing gas by land or sea and is rehabilitating the gas pipeline to Deir Ammar.

Plans to import electricity from Syria are still under study, he said, adding that he referred the proposed contract to EDL’s board. Authorities are also examining the possibility of buying electricity from Turkey through Syria.

Saddi said he met Turkey’s energy minister in New York and asked him to contact Syrian authorities to assess the technical feasibility of transmitting or purchasing electricity through Syrian territory.

He said the regulatory authority has launched a tender to operate smaller power plants, while 20 companies have submitted projects in conventional and renewable energy. The ministry is also moving forward with wind energy licenses, with an investor prepared to purchase a license and activate the project.

Saddi said the price of fuel imported by EDL has doubled over the past six months, reducing electricity supply after it reached about seven hours a day in February. He said adopting a flexible tariff tied to global fuel prices could reduce costs for Lebanese consumers by about $240 million.

He also said converting the electricity sector to natural gas would lower production costs. The ministry has reached the stage of having gas purchase contracts with Jordan, along with transit and swap arrangements involving Jordan and Syria, and Saddi said he had referred the contracts to the Cabinet’s General Secretariat.

Saddi said increasing electricity supply without Treasury advances requires the state to pay its outstanding obligations to EDL, stressing that the utility is “not above the law.” 

He said the arrangement worked for one month but that the state must also reimburse EDL for exemptions granted during the war in southern Lebanon so the utility can purchase fuel.

According to Saddi, the state owes EDL about $300 million in arrears. He said achieving financial sustainability requires lasting financial and structural reforms rather than relying on advances and debt.