Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) is the state-owned electric utility of Liberia, responsible for the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. As of 2024, it is the primary electricity provider in Liberia, operating the national grid, alongside several smaller operators licensed by the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission (LERC).
History The Liberia Electricity Corporation was established in 1973 by Chapter 85 of the Public Authorities Law as Liberia’s national power utility.
Liberia’s power infrastructure was devastated during the civil wars. According to the World Bank Group, the country’s pre-war generation capacity of about 180 megawatts and its associated distribution network were lost, leaving commercial electricity service effectively non-existent for many years.
In 2007, LEC resumed commercial operations in Monrovia on a limited basis with 2 MW of imported generation, 450 customers, and a small number of street lights, marking the first return of public power service since the war.
In April 2010, the International Finance Corporation helped structure and tender a five-year management contract for LEC, and Manitoba Hydro International of Canada took over operations on 1 July 2010. The arrangement was backed by international donors including the European Union, Norway, USAID, and the World Bank.
Liberia's electricity sector was restructured in 2015, when new legislation ended LEC's statutory monopoly and created an independent regulator.
Legal framework and regulation The 2015 Electricity Law of Liberia, effective 26 October 2015, amended Chapter 85 and restructured the sector, opening it to private investment and separating policy, regulation and operations. The law repealed or amended several paragraphs of the act creating LEC: it requires LEC to submit rates, fees and charges to the regulator for approval and to allow third-party access to the grid.
Under the law LEC remains the transmission system operator and national grid company, and may continue to generate electricity. It was treated as provisionally licensed for one year while bringing itself into compliance with the new licensing regime.
The law also authorized the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission (LERC) as the national regulator, to be established within the ministry within one year and to become fully independent within two. LERC consists of a chairperson and two commissioners appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate, serving staggered four-year terms. The ministry's Department of Energy acted as regulator for the first two years. LERC began operations in 2017 with funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, though its commissioners were not confirmed by the Legislature until September 2018, delaying the transition set out in the law.
Electricity system
LEC operates Liberia's main grid, supplied by the 88 MW Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant and heavy fuel oil generation at Bushrod Island, and supplemented by imports through the Côte d’Ivoire–Liberia–Sierra Leone–Guinea (CLSG) interconnection, a regional transmission network forming part of the West African Power Pool. Output falls during the dry season, when reduced river flow cuts hydropower generation.
Reliance on imported electricity introduces financial risks. In 2024, Côte d’Ivoire warned that electricity exports to Liberia could be suspended due to approximately US$19.6 million in unpaid debt owed by LEC.
Projects and financing Under the World Bank–funded Liberia Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project (LACEEP) and its Additional Financing, LEC built 115 km of transmission lines and 1,600 km of distribution network in greater Monrovia and along the Paynesville–Kakata and Bomi–Cape Mount corridors, upgraded the Paynesville substation and commissioned new substations at Kakata, Gardnersville, Stockton Creek and Kley between 2020 and 2022, adding 100 MVA of transformer capacity. LEC reported 69,000 new connections against a target of 54,000.
The EU-funded Monrovia Consolidation project added 27 km of transmission lines, 183 km of distribution lines and the 40 MVA Congo Town substation, energised in December 2021, connecting 30,000 of a targeted 41,000 customers.
In February 2025, the European Union, EU member states, the European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank, and the Government of Liberia commissioned the Liberia Energy Efficiency and Access Project (LEEAP), aimed at expanding electricity access and improving system performance.
In 2026, the Government of Liberia announced a dual-track strategy to expand generation capacity, including a 100 MW heavy fuel oil plant and a 300 MW combined-cycle gas project in Buchanan valued at approximately US$500 million.
The 100 MW plant is intended as a short-term solution, while the 300 MW project is designed to provide long-term energy security and reduce reliance on imported electricity.
Electricity theft and revenue losses LEC faces persistent challenges related to non-technical losses, particularly electricity theft and non-payment of bills. Power theft has been identified as a major constraint on the corporation’s financial sustainability, with reports indicating that it accounted for significant revenue losses and undermined the utility’s ability to expand service and maintain operations.
In 2019, LEC reported losing approximately 62% of its revenue to electricity theft, equivalent to millions of U.S. dollars per month. Subsequent reports and sector analyses have continued to highlight electricity theft as one of the foremost issues affecting the corporation’s financial viability.
In addition to theft, non-payment of electricity bills by public institutions has contributed to revenue shortfalls. According to World Bank assessments, unpaid government electricity bills remain a continuing challenge, contributing to overall non-technical losses despite recent improvements in loss reduction and revenue collection.
Efforts to address these issues have included the enforcement of anti-power theft laws, deployment of prepaid and smart meters, and campaigns to regularize illegal connections. These measures have contributed to a reduction in non-technical losses in recent years, though both electricity theft and payment compliance remain ongoing challenges for the utility.
See also Energy in Liberia Mount Coffee Hydropower Project
References