Lebanon battles chronic electricity shortages with citizens facing daily struggles. Illegal generators profit while politicians turn a blind eye. Protesters demand constant power supply amid corruption. Can Lebanon overcome the power struggle?
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insights INSIGHT
Two Bills Explain Private Generators' Hold
Lebanese households pay two bills: state electricity plus private generator fees, with generator costs taking a large share of income.
Private supply is illegal yet tolerated because operators fill gaps the state cannot, enriching operators.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Ex-Militia Leader Now Runs Community Generator
Former militia leaders in Tripoli turned to running private generators after clashes ended, presenting their role as community service.
One ex-fighter said he supplies free electricity to a local soccer field and calls his work "social" rather than business.
insights INSIGHT
Generators Maintain Political Patronage Networks
Authorities tolerate illegal generators because ex-combatants' wartime knowledge and networks make them useful to the state.
This tacit allowance links delivery of electricity to patronage and local political control.
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Life in Lebanon is a daily battle to beat the power cuts caused by the country's chronic electricity shortage. If you live in a block of flats, you have to time when you go in and out to avoid getting trapped in the lift. Food goes bad because fridges don't work, families must often choose between air-conditioning and watching TV, and those on life-support machines live in constant fear of a switch-off. But if it's hell for citizens, it's heaven for operators of illegal private generators who profit by filling the gap left by the failures of the national grid. Some are former warlords who led militias in Lebanon's civil war. They're given an unofficial licence to operate, often in return for favours to the authorities in Lebanon's chaotic and often corrupt sectarian system.
Now a huge protest movement is demanding change in Lebanon - and a constant power supply is one of the demonstrators' main demands. They want to break the power of the "fuel mafia" that imports diesel for the generators and has close links to the country's leading politicians. For them, the fight for light is a fight against corruption. But can Lebanon's feeble state ever manage to turn all the lights on?
Reporter: Tim Whewell
Producer: Anna Meisel
(Image: Protesters block the main entrance of the Lebanese electricity company headquarters in Beirut. Credit: European Photopress Agency)
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