Beirut's Underground Power "Mafia"

Small wonder that a country synonymous with destruction and ruin has an underground power market.

In the 1920s, the U.S. banned the sale of alcohol, emboldening the mafia, which stepped in to fill the void. And in Beirut, amidst a strained power grid and 3-12 hour mandatory blackouts, industrious power brokers help sate a growing appetite for personal electronics.

Wired has a fascinating piece on this thriving underground community, and the stories are voluminous. Abdel al-Raham, from East Beirut, bought a small generator at the start of the civil war in 1975, and like the conflict that ravaged the country for 15 years, Abdel’s business intensified.

“We cover where there is no state,” Abdel says. “I can't leave this job … it's a labor of love. The people I provide electricity for have also become my friends.”

And between repair costs, bribes to local municipalities (Abdel's bootleg power is technically illegal), increased diesel fees, and unpaid bills by Syrian and Egyptian refugees, Abdel has his hands full in a community that leans on his generators for up to ¾ of their power needs.

The state bans industries like Abdel’s, but due to a loose system of bribes and the fact that government officials own some of the 12,000 generators in Beirut, alone, federal enforcement is piecemeal at best. And, perhaps out of jealousy, the state calls this underground power market the “mafia.”

“They have no right to consider us a mafia, because we don't impose on anyone to do anything,” says Abdel. “We just let people reap the benefits of our electricity.”

Read more here: https://www.wired.com/story/beruit-electricity-brokers/