State Institutions Owe EDL Billions: Will Power be Cut Off for Non-Payment?

A report by Bassam Abou Zeid, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine

State Institutions and Departments, like any other citizen, have bills they need to pay to Electricité du Liban.

From November 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, these bills amounted to 6,850 billion LBP. The funds were secured after the Council of Ministers approved a decree in December last year for a treasury advance of 6,500 billion LBP.

There are many institutions and departments involved, and if we were to mention the ones with the highest bills, we would start with the water authorities, as their bill amounts to 4,482 billion LBP.

The Ministry of Public Works also owes money to Electricité du Liban, including bills for the airport and the port, totaling 777 billion LBP. 

The Ministry of Defense and army departments owe 390 billion, the Ministry of Interior and its various departments owe 345 billion, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers owes 23 billion, and the Parliament owes 11 billion.

Electricité du Liban sent notifications to all the institutions and departments about what they need to pay, and these institutions and departments were supposed to send the notifications to the Ministry of Finance so that the funds secured by the treasury advance could be transferred to Electricité du Liban. 

This is where the issue got stuck, as the institutions and departments are afraid that the Ministry of Finance will later demand that they repay what it considers to be a treasury advance. As a result, they stopped sending the notifications and continued using electricity without paying their dues.

Sources familiar with the matter said there is a proposal for Electricité du Liban to send the notifications directly to the Ministry of Finance, without going through the concerned institutions and departments, so that the Ministry of Finance can pay Electricité du Liban directly.

These funds are crucial for Electricité du Liban to maintain some of the financial balance it has achieved and to secure more fuel for its plants. 

The institutions and departments, along with the Ministry of Finance, are responsible for not finding a formula for payment as quickly as possible, while Electricité du Liban is responsible for cutting off electricity to these institutions just as it does for any ordinary citizen.
So, will it dare to cut off electricity to those who fail to pay?