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The Electricité du Liban has begun taking measures to cut off electricity supply to a number of public facilities due to failure to pay bills, according to what it announced in a statement issued on Monday morning.
Concern has prevailed in recent days after talk about cutting off electricity to the airport in the capital, Beirut, but press reports reported that the management of Rafik Hariri International Airport pledged to pay the late financial dues, and avoid cutting off electricity and disrupting air traffic.
A few days ago, the airport witnessed a power outage for a few hours, causing great confusion within the facility and in air traffic.
It is noteworthy that Rafic Hariri Airport is the only air facility used in Lebanon to transport passengers, awaiting the start of work on a new airport that was recently opened in northern Lebanon.
The statement issued today by the Board of Directors of the Electricité du Liban confirmed the start of updating the subscription regulations for public administrations, institutions, and municipalities that have defaulted on paying bills.
The Foundation announced that it will publish a statement later to clarify “today’s events and the measures taken,” noting that it will announce at a later time the names of the institutions that will be included in the measure.
Local media quoted the Minister of Energy, Joe Seddi, as confirming on Saturday his full support for the Board of Directors of the Electricité du Liban Corporation, in the decision to cut off power to public facilities that are defaulting on their financial dues.
What happened at Beirut airport?
On the morning of Wednesday, October 28, power was cut off at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport for hours, and the outage continued until the afternoon.
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This occurred a few days after the Electricité du Liban announced a plan to cut off electricity to public facilities that had not paid their large financial dues.
There were conflicting reports about the reasons for the power cut. The airport presidency sent an appeal to the Electricité du Liban through the media to restore electricity supply, after having to rely on electricity from backup private generators.
Electricité du Liban denied that the reason for the power outage at the airport was related to non-payment of bills, and stated that the reasons for the outage were due to a technical malfunction.
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper published a list that it said it had obtained from the Ministry of Energy and Water, which includes the financial amounts owed to public facilities and institutions, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Interior, the Beirut Municipality, the Rafik Hariri Governmental University Hospital, the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces, the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Corporation, the Scientific Research Council, and others.
The total financial dues on these facilities amounted to approximately $248 million, according to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
The dues of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation amounted to $22.8 million.
There was controversy over the threat to cut off electricity to public facilities, especially the airport in the capital, Beirut.
The Air Transport Association warned of the seriousness of this step and its repercussions, noting that the airport constitutes Lebanon’s gateway to the world and an essential tributary to the national economy.
The Electricité du Liban responded to the Air Transport Association’s statement by saying that the problem is not with the airport, but rather the problem of “the principle of evading financial responsibilities and obligations.”
She added in a statement, "The demand to assume responsibilities and pay dues is not a threat, targeting, or malicious measure. Rather, it is a legal and financial duty, and a basic condition to ensure the continuity of the public facility and the regularity of its services."
Some were surprised at how an airport that reaps huge profits from travel traffic could fail to pay electricity dues.
A newspaper asked how a utility that generates high revenues could be unable to pay its electricity bills.
It quoted the airport's general manager, Mohamed Shatila, as saying that the airport's revenues "reached approximately $330 million in 2025, but these revenues are transferred directly to the public treasury, and the Ministry of Finance is responsible for paying the bills. Thus, the airport administration does not have the freedom to directly dispose of its revenues to cover its operational expenses, despite its responsibility to ensure business continuity."
Lebanon has been suffering from the problem of power outages for decades, and this crisis worsened during the years of the civil war and did not abate in the years after the war.
Successive governments failed to solve this crisis, or to lift the legalization policy.
Lebanon relies on purchasing fuel from abroad to operate power plants.
The energy sector crisis intensified, along with the rationing of electricity, with the onset of the latest economic crisis in Lebanon in 2019.
Most Lebanese throughout Lebanon depend on large private generators that provide electricity for very high amounts compared to the Electricity Corporation's bills.
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