Electricity distribution companies in several provinces, including Ardabil, Kermanshah, and Razavi Khorasan, announced that power outages would be enforced across these provinces starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, November 10. Contrary to previous reports, power outages in the capital also began today.
On Sunday, the website for Greater Tehran’s electricity distribution company published a blackout schedule.
On Saturday, November 9, domestic media reported that due to insufficient fuel for power plants, power outages would commence nationwide.
In recent days, Masoud Pezeshkian ordered a halt to mazut (heavy oil) burning in three power plants, replacing it with scheduled blackouts.
According to Abdolreza Taghavi, Chairman of Central Regional Power Production, mazut burning at the Shazand power plant was halted as the plan went into effect today.
Taghavi stated that currently, 1.8 million cubic meters of gas are allocated daily to the Shazand plant, but they are requesting a full gas quota.
On November 7, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani posted on X (formerly Twitter) that for a limited time, “scheduled blackouts” could replace “pollution production” for the general public.
In this context, Reza Sepahvand, a member of the parliamentary Energy Committee, stated on Sunday that if mazut is not burned, the only option is scheduled power and gas outages for households and industries. He added, “Apart from mazut, we have no other source to supply gas in the coming months.”
He continued, “We experienced industrial power cuts in the summer, which harmed the industry and agricultural sectors, and repeated outages created many issues for households.”
In recent days, government officials, state-affiliated media, and Pezeshkian’s supporters have been attempting not only to justify but also to praise the scheduled and nationwide blackouts, reminiscent of the 1980s, and to portray them as an achievement of the new administration.
Mohammad Jafar Qaem Panah, Pezeshkian’s executive deputy, also blamed the public for the imbalances and mazut use, suggesting that citizens should reduce home heating by a few degrees and consume less gas and electricity to mitigate blackouts.
He also attributed part of the problem to the “extremely low cost” and subsidies on energy carriers.
Hassanali Taghizadeh, Chairman of the Electricity Syndicate, warned officials in late September: “If we continue on this path, the imbalance will reach 25,000 megawatts next year.”
Taghizadeh also stated, “Don’t blame the people; don’t falsely claim that their consumption is high. The per capita electricity consumption of Iranians is 1,022 kilowatt-hours per year, compared to 2,120 kilowatt-hours in Europe. Our people consume very little electricity compared to the world, but we have a habit of blaming them.”
On Sunday, the government-affiliated Fars News Agency reported, based on data from the Ministry of Energy, that since September this year, the process of refilling liquid fuel reserves for power plants has halted, gradually reducing the reserves to one-third.
According to the report, gas supplies to power plants dropped by 30% in the first two weeks of this month compared to last year, and diesel reserves for power plants fell to less than 1.26 billion liters, placing Iran’s electricity grid on the verge of an emergency state.
In Iran, 80% of electricity is generated by thermal power plants, which rely primarily on natural gas for cleaner production without exacerbating air pollution.
In the absence of natural gas or diesel, power plants turn to mazut as an alternative.
Mazut contains high levels of sulfur and other toxic compounds, and burning it releases a large amount of particulate matter and toxic gasses.
