"It's $300. Sorry," the generator operator winced with an apologetic look as he handed over the receipt and did his monthly rounds collecting payments in Beirut's Achrafieh on Thursday.
The cost of fuel to run the expensive diesel-guzzling private generators that so many in Lebanon are dependent on had nearly doubled in the past couple of months, he said, as he explained the $100 price increase to the customer.
The more than two-month effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran – amid the conflict that engulfed the region, including Lebanon – has sent electricity energy prices soaring globally.
But in Lebanon, still reeling from an economic crisis that first became apparent in 2019, as well as Israel's continuing brutal war on the country, the impact will likely hit disproportionally hard on a population already exhausted by crises.
A bankrupt government and banking sector can do little to help, while Lebanon's crumbling state electricity can only provide a few hours of power a day.
Israel has also attacked vital power substations in southern Lebanon, as part of its expanding assault on state infrastructure.
But the relentless smog that hovers regularly over Beirut as a result of the pollution created by those engines is just one sign that the generators are still pumping.
For those who can afford it, they rely on the private generators, but are at the mercy of shocks like the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
"Mine has nearly doubled," said Maroun Issa of the bill for his generator that runs his Beirut electronic store as well as his home nearby. "And remember! The weather is good, it's not too hot or cold. So there is no need for A/C, heating, or extra power."
His shop does not require electricity overnight to keep things like food fresh as a restaurant would, but Mr Issa still reported a surge in the cost.
"There's nothing we can really do," he said.
Since the onset of the war, Lebanon was braced for the energy price increase, and generator owners had been politely warning that bills would rise when the new month came. But the amount was still a shock.
"Is 50,000 ($0.45) more OK?" asked Radwan sheepishly, a taxi driver with an impressive Uber rating of 4.99, as the trip from east to west Beirut got under way.
"I wouldn't normally ask this, and I am not one of those drivers who does ask this … but you know gas is very expensive at the moment."
Drivers were already on edge in February – before war broke out again – after a government decision to raise value-added tax and petrol prices to fund an increase in public-sector salaries
Last month, Lebanon's Energy Minister Joe Saadi had told The National that this surge in electricity and fuel prices stemming from the Iran war would hit Lebanon disproportionately hard, given the economic situation and Israel's relentless bombardment of the country.
Lebanon’s dilapidated energy infrastructure, heavily damaged in the 1975-1990 Civil War, has limped on for decades, unable to supply the amount of electricity that is demanded.
But since the start of the economic crisis in 2019, described by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern history, the problem has become more acute. The real value of salaries plummeted as the local currency lost about 98 per cent of its value.
The steep costs in traditional energy supply has meant some have turned to solar panels. While these should be a boon for sun-plentiful Lebanon, high start-up costs remain prohibitive for many.
"It's not just the generator prices," said a foreign NGO worker who has just returned to Lebanon after two months abroad following the latest eruption of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
"It's everything. I was shocked by how much everything had increased," they lamented of the prices generally in Lebanon, which is highly import-dependent and sensitive to global shocks.
"But the problem here is that even when things calm down, the price never comes back down."
