The organisation responsible for the electricity supply industry in Liberia is the Liberia Electricity Corporation, known as LEC. LEC was established by the government in 1973 to produce and supply electricity to the whole country, with the responsibility to expand the system to satisfy future demand and power the expansion of industry.
LEC operates two electric power systems, the Monrovia Grid and the Rural Electrification Network. The Monrovia Grid serves the capital city Monrovia and the surrounding area and is the largest of the two power systems. The Grid serves five of the country's thirteen counties and has over 40 000 customers.The Rural Electrification Network serves the remaining 8 counties with small isolated diesel unit systems.
LEC has indicated that the industry needs US$ 100 million of investment both to increase installed capacity (particularly at Mount Coffee) and to extend and upgrade transmission and distribution. Liberia has an economic hydro potential of around 1000 MW.
The civil war, which began in in the country in December 1989, as well as misgovernment, has destroyed much of Liberia's economy, especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia. A large portion of the LEC generation and distribution infrastructure was damaged or destroyed during the civil war. LEC estimates that it will cost more than $107 million and take over five years to repair the entire electricity generation and distribution system.
In October 2000, the 14 members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which Liberia is a member, signed an agreement to launch a project to boost power supply in the region of West Africa. The West African Power Pool (WAPP) agreement reaffirmed the decision to develop energy production facilities and interconnect their respective electricity grids. According to the agreement, the WAPP will be accomplished in two phases but is planned to be fully implemented by 2005. Liberia, along with countries such as Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Gambia and Cape Verde, will actively be involved in the second phase of the WAPP agreement.
