BEIRUT, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Owners of Lebanese private generators must comply with the new prices set by the Energy Ministry and no one can break the law, said Alia Abbas, general director of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, on Friday.

"It is not acceptable to break the law and everybody should abide by the new prices set by the Energy Ministry," she was quoted by Elnashra, an independent online newspaper, as saying.

The Lebanese government insists on regulating private generators businesses after the sector refused to lower its prices to the level set by the Energy Ministry amid energy shortage in the country.

Authorities will regulate the sector by installing meters to private generators to measure the exact consumption of electricity in order to determine the exact prices that should be paid by citizens.

Abbas' remarks on Friday came following a statement by owners of private generators saying that they are still not ready to adopt the prices set by the ministry.

"We still do not have enough meters to be installed to measure the exact consumption of citizens and we do not have permits to go into buildings to supervise the meters," they said.

Owners of private generators have also called on the authorities to exempt them from paying for the meters, insisting that citizens should pay the fee.