Deir el Ghazal, Beqaa, is home to around 1,200 Lebanese residents and 550 refugees who, amidst the ongoing socio-economic crisis, have been struggling with a significant degradation of living conditions. Significantly, the town was enduring lengthy power outages and was relying on a municipality-owned generator for backup electricity. The generator, however, had exceeded its lifespan, causing it to run inefficiently and break down frequently. Indeed, it started incurring over $600 per month of repair and maintenance costs, in addition to a very high fuel consumption bill that exceeded $10,000 a month. As a result, the municipality was forced to reduce electricity provision to just two hours per day which, in turn, severely affected residents’ access to other essential services which rely on electric power, such as streetlighting, water, and wastewater management. The situation fueled growing intercommunal tensions, and the municipality also noted an important rise in opportunistic crime. In response, USAID’s Community Support Program (CSP) provided and installed a new 400KVA generator, which runs more efficiently and is providing electricity at a lower cost to vulnerable households whilst enabling the municipality to power the town’s other essential services. This intervention is enhancing access to electricity, water, and streetlighting for 1,750 residents.

“Deir el Ghazal was badly affected by the crisis and, since the old generator was too costly to operate and maintain, the community lost access to many essential services. Thanks to this intervention by USAID/CSP, we are able to provide electricity and bring Deir el Ghazal to life again.” Mr. Rafik Debs, Mayor of Deir el Ghazal.