Electricité du Liban, the electricity supplier for the country of Lebanon, has announced that their last remaining operational power plant has been taken offline due to a shortage of fuel to run the plant. While the electric utility has struggled for years to offer the population more than a handful of hours of electricity per day, the entire country has now been plunged into darkness until fuel can be obtained. Private generators provide some relief, but cannot power the entire country. Government services are impacted, including the ability to pump clean drinking water to the population or run sewage services.

There are four power plants that supply Lebanon with electricity. Two of the plants – Jiyeh and Zouk plants – have been down for maintenance. The Deir Ammar plant ran out of fuel on August 7th. The Zahrani plant ran out of fuel on August 17th. Lebanon has not had a president since October 2022 and the caretaker government states it is working to resolve the issue and restore power. With the drums of war beating ever louder in the south of the country, an extended energy crisis would make Lebanon vulnerable and complicate matters for organizations providing humanitarian aid in the region.