Widespread electricity blackouts all over Lebanon in the past week have caused many businesses to close temporarily and affected food supply and heating. Blackouts have jeopardized the health and safety of older people and young children, who are particularly vulnerable to the cold weather and rely on equipment such as elevators, residents told Human Rights Watch.

Lebanon has not had round the clock electricity for decades. However, this week people have experienced drastic electricity cuts. Some Beirut residents told Human Rights Watch they had as little as one hour of electricity per day.

An Electricite du Liban (EDL) source told Human Rights Watch that in addition to limited state subsidies and increasing oil prices, increased rationing was compounded by delays in obtaining credit lines to purchase fuel and gas as well as a storm which prevented fuel ships from docking and disconnected some power plants from the grid.

Many in Lebanon resort to expensive private generators to fill the gaps. However, poorer residents are unable to afford the hefty generator fees, which can amount to $200 per month.

“They have taken us back decades to a life by candlelight,” an employee at a mobile accessories shop said.

Earlier this week, temperatures in Beirut dropped to 10 degrees Celsius. “We are freezing while sitting at home, in the dark,” a young unemployed man said. “Everything in the freezer and refrigerator went bad. We were left without food.”

A 72-year-old widow told Human Rights Watch that the recent electricity shortages have made her life “hellish.”

“I want to go up to my apartment on the 8^thfloor now. An old woman like me, I need to climb up 8 flights of stairs. I don’t know what to say about this country. It is depressing…I have a gas heater. But when the gas canister runs out, what can I do? I ask if someone can take it up 8 flights of stairs for me for 5,000 or 10,000 pounds (3.33 – 6.67 USD), but no one agrees. When the gas runs out, I have to go to bed and stay under the covers…I am very angry on the inside. Because everything is acceptable but electricity is a red line.”

On January 9, EDL announced that an incoming fuel oil vessel docked and began unloading fuel, and that power plants affected by the storm are being reconnected. The caretaker Energy Minister stated that EDL will supply between 16 – 21 hours of electricity in Beirut and 8 – 10 hours outside Beirut until February – a decrease from previous supply levels.

Protesters have been demonstrating in front of EDL branches and power plants across the country. On January 8, the army clashed with protesters who tried to storm into Tripoli’s Qadisha Electricity Company. Media reported that the protesters threw stones at the soldiers, who then fired tear gas to disperse them.

Protest in #Nabatiye area objecting to the electricity shortage#LebanonProtests #AkhbarAlSaha pic.twitter.com/n8CFamN1TT
— أخبار الساحة (@Akhbaralsaha) January 10, 2020