Electricite de Jbeil Shames “Electricity Thieves” By Naming Them In Public

In the first shaming exercise of its kind, Electricite de Jbeil has published a list of names of citizens who are accused of “stealing electricity” on their Facebook page. The list, which includes over 31 pages, gives the full tripartite name of subscribers, alongside their subscription number, generator, and area.

Electricite de Jbeil does not specifically state how these subscribers are stealing electricity, so it is unclear whether these are unpaid/late subscriptions or more convoluted methods such as wire-hooking and tampering with the meter. Electricity continues to be a crisis in Lebanon, with long state current blackouts last week linked to the shutdown of the Zahrani and Deir Ammar powerplants.

The move to name and shame “electricity thieves” publicly on Facebook is definitely a new way to deal with these types of issues. Unfortunately, the company limited comments on its post, so we can’t see any reactions from those on the list.

According to its website, Electricite de Jbeil’s board of directors consists of Youssef-Malik Elie-Malik Bassil, Yasmeen Elie-Malik Bassil, Zalfa Youssef Bassil, and Jean Victor Bassil. According to their chairman, Elie J. Bassil, the company’s “plans for the future include aggressive actions to serve the maximum number of citizens in the Jbeil area and to expand locally and abroad.” It recently released a statement citing the need for increased rationing hours due to failures in the national grid, high temperatures, and continued theft of electricity across the area.

Is your name on the list? Go in there and check!

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