Electricity collection losses reach $42.8 Million per month

The assessment of the damage resulting from Iran’s support war, which lasted around 45 days before the ceasefire, is still ongoing and under review in order to determine the actual scale of the damage. The losses incurred by Lebanon’s electricity sector, particularly Électricité du Liban (EDL), are divided into direct losses affecting networks and infrastructure as a result of strikes targeting the South, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, and other areas, and indirect losses caused by the decline in bill collection and therefore revenues due to widespread displacement and the destruction of large parts of the affected areas, leading them to fall partially or completely out of service.

As Nida Al Watan learned, EDL’s preliminary overall assessment of the damage from the 2026 war in the South and Nabatieh governorates alone was estimated at $67.485 million. The preliminary survey is still ongoing and under review, especially given that the crisis has not yet ended and access to some hotspot areas remains impossible in order to accurately determine the damage. This is in addition to the fact that damages affecting the transmission sector (including damage to major substations, networks, and related equipment) have not yet been accounted for.

Monthly collection losses

During the 2024 war, Électricité du Liban managed to repair the damage sustained by its network in order to restore electricity supply to the affected areas. However, exemptions granted to residents of the affected areas from paying electricity bills reduced EDL’s revenues. These exemptions deprived the institution of income that is difficult to compensate for, especially since EDL has become reliant on self-financing amounting to millions of dollars.

According to the same source, the accumulated monthly collection losses incurred by EDL as a result of the 2024 Gaza support war were estimated at around $30 million. This loss came after the issuance of a law, following the two-month war, exempting subscribers in the affected areas from paying their electricity bills without specifying how EDL would be compensated for these losses.

Added to this are the old collection losses that have continued for two years, as well as the monthly collection losses resulting from the 2026 Iran support war, amounting to $12,847,740.

Consequently, between the collection losses that have persisted since the 2024 war until today and the current collection losses from the 2026 war, EDL is losing more than $42.8 million per month as of the time of writing, pending the completion of damage assessments, rubble removal, and a final ceasefire.

Collection activities were negatively affected across all Lebanese territories, either because EDL employees were unable to carry out their work due to the daily airstrikes targeting all regions, or because some employees themselves had been displaced and were unable to reach their workplaces, as was the case with all institutions. Collection operations ceased in the following areas:

- Beirut’s southern suburbs (Chiyah, Borj El Barajneh, Mreijeh, Choueifat, Ghobeiry, Haret Hreik, Hadath).

- South Lebanon districts (Naqoura, Bint Jbeil, Jouaiya, Hasbaya, Tyre, Marjayoun, Sidon, Nabatieh, Jezzine, Zahrani).

Repairing the damage

Regarding the physical damage sustained by the electricity network, EDL personnel continued their work as much as possible despite the dangers surrounding them during wartime. They continued repairs even in areas subjected to daily strikes such as Hasbaya, Shebaa, Marjayoun, Khiam, Arqoub, Tayr Debba, Jouaiya, and Tyre.

According to the source, “the extensive scale of the damage creates difficulties in securing the necessary quantities of materials on time. Before beginning repair operations, rubble must first be removed, roads reopened, surveys completed, and accurate maps prepared in parallel with preparations for urban planning and reconstruction, as well as obtaining the necessary permits from the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL in these areas.”

Furthermore, since the start of the latest war, additional damage has affected the electricity distribution network, concentrated in the districts of Nabatieh, Jouaiya, Tyre, Marjayoun, and Bint Jbeil. The value of the repair works remains unclear at present due to the inability to complete surveys and will later be added to the estimated project costs for 2026.

Impact on the institution’s revenues

The direct damage sustained by the electricity sector during the 2024 war may appear relatively limited, but its continuing repercussions have made the 2026 war far more painful for EDL’s revenues. The institution, which had recorded a relative improvement in bill collection between 2022 and 2023 as a result of expanding collection operations and raising tariffs to around 10 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first consumption bracket, gradually increasing with higher consumption to 27 cents per kilowatt-hour, is now facing a noticeable decline in revenues.

This decline is attributed to damage to the networks, the suspension of collection activities in devastated border areas, exemptions, and the inability to collect bills from areas whose residents have been displaced. This may negatively affect the institution’s revenues, its ability to repair physical damages, finance fuel purchases, and sustain electricity production over the long term.