According to the state-run ISNA news agency, 13 provinces in Iran will be closed on ursday, July 11, due to what it called an “imbalance between electricity production and consumption as well as rising temperatures and record-breaking consumption.”
As reported by ISNA, the provinces of Semnan, Zanjan, Khuzestan, Qom, Bushehr, Markazi, Isfahan, Yazd, Sistan and Baluchestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kerman, South Khorasan, and Lorestan will be closed on Thursday due to the electricity shortage.
This state news agency wrote that the demand for electricity consumption in Iran reached over 77 gigawatts, and with the predicted increase in temperature, the consumption trend is likely to continue rising.
According to this report, to prevent widespread blackouts and scheduled power cuts in the 13 provinces, Thursday has been declared a holiday so that “by reducing electricity consumption in offices, the network can be managed and blackouts avoided.”
Tavanir Company (Iran Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution Management Company) sent a nationwide warning SMS to subscribers on Monday, July 8, and a consumption warning for Tehran was also issued on Wednesday.
In this regard, according to the regime’s Young Journalists Club (YJC), the electricity of 65 high-consumption administrative subscribers in Tehran was cut off due to their refusal to reduce electricity consumption.
In recent days, there have been many protests on social media regarding power outages in various cities in Iran.
In this context, according to Telegram channels, the residents of “Kuye Mashali” in Ahvaz, southwest Iran, do not have electricity for 12 hours a day, while the city is “struggling with unbearable heat above 50 degrees Celsius.”
According to this report, the frequent and unannounced power outages have disrupted the daily lives of Ahvaz residents.
The power outages are occurring despite Homayoun Haeri, the regime’s Deputy Minister of Energy for Electricity and Energy Affairs, telling ISNA on May 4 that “with the measures and planning in place and the cooperation of electricity industry subscribers, we will not have blackouts this year.”
However, in mid-June, the Deputy Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade announced in a letter to the Minister that the electricity restrictions for industries this summer will be intensified, and consequently, the activities of industries such as steel and cement will be severely disrupted, ultimately leading to reduced production and increased prices.
The state-run ILNA news agency also published a letter from Reza Mohtashamipour, the Deputy Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade, addressed to the minister, stating: “The nominal power capacity of the country has reached 90,000 megawatt-hours, and while we have not yet approached the hot months of the year, the peak electricity consumption has reached 70,000 megawatts.”
Meanwhile, the regime’s Khabar Online website reported that power outages in some central areas of Tehran have reached four hours.
Khabar Online emphasized that in previous years, with the start of the hot season, the maximum power outage duration was two hours, and this is the first time that residents have experienced nearly four-hour power cuts.
According to media reports, power outages have become a major problem for industries, causing protests from industrial owners.
Reports indicate that yesterday, the electricity of the SAIPA car manufacturing plant was also cut off for at least five hours, causing serious problems in the production process, leaving workers idle and uncertain for hours.
According to published news, consecutive power outages in Tehran’s industrial hub, Jaddeh Makhsous (special road), which houses many long-established and old factories, have caused major problems for industries.
The state-run ILNA news agency, quoting the Vice President of the Industry Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, wrote that one-day-a-week power outages in industrial towns across the country are extending to a second day.
The regime’s Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper reported on Wednesday that power outages cause serious damage to industries, and each time the industries are turned on and off, it takes about 24 hours, with each 24-hour power outage causing increased damages.
Donya-e-Eqtesad pointed out the private sector’s request to the government to move the one-day-a-week power outage to Friday and wrote that Ministry of Energy officials have informed industrial owners that “solving this issue is not within the Ministry of Energy’s authority, and security agencies control this sector.”
Experts consider the lack of planning and behavior outside economic frameworks in development issues as the main factor in the energy sector’s imbalance and believe that with this method of governance, there is no hope for improving conditions.
