A member of the presidium of the Energy Commission of Iran’s regime Majlis (parliament) said that despite the oil and gas reserves having almost doubled compared to last year, power outages will likely return to the country starting in January.
On Monday, October 13, Farhad Shahraki told the state-run news website Shafaqna, expressing concern about energy supply in winter: “Given the restrictions on using fuel oil for environmental reasons and the red line regarding not cutting household gas supplies, despite good reserves, I believe from January we will again witness power outages.”
Iran’s Regime Unveils the ‘Winter Drill’ Plan While the Energy Crisis Continues
This member of the presidium of the Majlis Energy Commission, referring to the obstacles in implementing the “Seventh Development Plan,” said that the plan had set a “minimum 55% efficiency” for installed power plants. However, “the Ministry of Energy has stated in its correspondence that achieving this goal is impossible due to sanctions and costs and has requested to lower the efficiency ceiling to 50%.”
Earlier, on October 6, the state-run Mehr News Agency described Iran’s gas crisis as a “structural” and “chronic” problem, reporting that this challenge causes billions of dollars in “silent losses” for the petrochemical industry during winter.
The agency reported that the country’s daily gas deficit in the winter of 2025 exceeded 300 million cubic meters, and estimates indicate this figure may reach 600 million cubic meters by 2031.
This is while the daily gas deficit was around 155 million cubic meters in 2020 and about 174 million cubic meters in 2022.
Meeting on energy shortages
On the morning of Monday, October 13, a meeting to review energy shortages—referred to by officials of Iran’s regime as “energy imbalance”—was held with the participation of the Minister of Energy, several Majlis members, and senior representatives and managers of the oil and energy ministries and their subsidiaries.
Abbas Aliabadi, Minister of Energy, said at the meeting: “We are in difficult wartime conditions and have gone through five years of heat and drought… If today’s meeting resolutions are implemented, we will not face problems in winter because we have enough power plants to produce electricity, and with fuel supplied by the Oil Ministry, there will be no power outages.”
Ali Nikzad Samerin, deputy speaker of the Majlis, also said that the Minister of Energy, based on commitments made by oil ministry officials, “has pledged that there will be no power or gas cuts in the country during the winter.”
The continuous power outages in recent months went beyond temporary disruptions and, under the regime’s incapacity, turned into a widespread crisis affecting daily life and production processes.
In mid-September, amid ongoing power outages across Iran, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, CEO of Tavanir (the state electricity company), admitted that the electricity supply crisis would not be resolved soon.
Moreover, widespread blackouts during this summer put severe pressure on industries, caused serious production consequences, and fueled concerns about worker unemployment.
Under these circumstances, and given the worsening economic situation and intensified sanctions, the gas and electricity crisis in Iran is expected not only to recur in the near future but also to become more persistent and costly.
