Lebanon's power sector has long been at the center of the country's economic and fiscal challenges as it adds to the high fiscal and trade deficits, requiring significant government subsidies due to inefficient costs and underpricing. The power sector has been unable to secure adequate supply to electricity consumers, severely impacting economic and social development, and creating a public trust deficit that goes far beyond the technical and fiscal challenges. Solutions to the sector's challenges have been extensively studied and largely agreed on at a technical level, but political will remains the key missing ingredient in progressing these solutions. Prior actions in the sector amounted largely to crisis management, prioritizing speed over addressing the structural issues and sector sustainability based on proper planning and timely decision-making that are at the heart of sector woes. The new Government should expeditiously confirm its own sector program initially through a vision statement, which this paper and the following suggested timeline are intended to inform, that would later be expanded to a full plan after extensive public consultations to ensure public support. Communication, public consultations, and information disclosure are vital to regaining public trust in the sector. Increasing the sector's transparency and accountability requires implementing the long-stalled vision of Law 462 for more private sector participation in the distribution and generation sub-sectors. A clear and timebound plan for putting this vision into effect is urgently needed.
Details
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Document Date
2020/07/01
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Document Type
Report
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Report Number
150446
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Volume No
1
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Total Volume(s)
1
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Country
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Region
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Disclosure Date
2020/07/01
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Disclosure Status
Disclosed
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Doc Name
Lebanon Power Sector Emergency Action Plan
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Keywords
emergency action plan; public consultation; environmental and social assessments; conflicts of interest; Electricity; competitive procurement; Thermal Power Generation; Senior Financial Management Specialist; International Financial Reporting Standards; security of supply; heavy fuel oil; cost of electricity; senior procurement specialist; annual budgetary transfer; national electricity utility; renewable power plant; impact on poverty; lack of transparency; renewable energy application; end-use energy efficiency; external affairs; power purchase agreement; public priority; accountability for performance; grievance redress mechanism; Enterprise Resource Planning; international good practice; chronic power shortages; capacity building plan; fuel price; foreign exchange; transmission system; transparent process; retail tariff; Financial Stability; governance issue; generation capacity; vicious cycle; secure financing; bill collection; private concession; generation plant; timely payment; crisis management; average cost; electricity need; government transfer
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Citation
Lebanon Power Sector Emergency Action Plan (English). Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/500281593636676732/Lebanon-Power-Sector-Emergency-Action-Plan