Amid wartime conditions, the Iranian regime has imposed widespread power outages on citizens and manufacturers while dramatically increasing energy costs. People across the country are struggling with financial losses caused by fluctuations in the power grid. Industries are also facing production shutdowns and sharply rising costs due to energy shortages. Meanwhile, electricity is being sold on Iran’s Energy Exchange at prices four times higher than the standard rate.
Exceptional Grid Conditions and Controversial Appeals to Citizens
On July 20, Abbas Aliabadi, the Iranian regime’s energy minister, said: “We are currently in an exceptional situation, and unauthorized electricity consumption and cryptocurrency miners have added to the demand. Areas affected by the war are the priority for electricity supply, but some cities are not involved, and we must be careful.”
These remarks come as public dissatisfaction with the power grid has reached a peak. For example, a resident shared a video reporting three separate outages in the city of Fardis, near Karaj. The repeated fluctuations caused power cuts in Fardis and neighboring areas, damaging household electrical appliances.
In a July 17 statement, the Ministry of Energy urged people to turn off their air conditioners during peak consumption hours. According to the statement, each household should shut down its cooling system for one hour to ensure a stable electricity supply in southern regions. The regime’s inability to manage the country’s infrastructure has shifted the burden of compensating for the energy shortfall onto end users. The pressure placed on households, alongside severe restrictions in other sectors, points to a deep structural crisis in Iran’s energy system.
Planned Power Outages and Complaints from Tehran Residents
On July 14, Tehran’s electricity distribution company announced that scheduled power outages in the capital would begin on Wednesday, July 15. Tavanir, Iran’s state-owned power generation and distribution company, attributed the restrictions to rising temperatures and unprecedented growth in electricity consumption.
According to the official notice, outages will occur in two-hour intervals. However, authorities have acknowledged that power cuts could be extended to as long as four hours under certain scenarios.
This announcement followed earlier reports of widespread power outages across Tehran on July 11.
Technical Justifications for Energy Imbalances and Broad Industrial Restrictions
The head of Tavanir stated that electricity consumption has exceeded the country’s power generation capacity. He said: “I do not claim that we can get through the summer without power outages because our consumption is higher than our production.”
Two days later, Tavanir’s director general for customer affairs promised that notices of electricity restrictions would be issued 48 hours in advance. Abdolamir Yaghouti described public conservation measures as the only way to prevent the grid from collapsing under what he called “load management.” He claimed that rising temperatures have reduced power plant efficiency and that part of the electricity generated is consumed by cooling the facilities themselves.
Meanwhile, Arman Khaleghi, secretary general of the House of Industry, said manufacturing facilities are now limited to electricity supply on only two days per week. He predicted that these restrictions would eventually extend into evening and midnight hours.
The electricity crisis intensified in later part of the Persian month of Tir (mid-July) after power allocations for cement factories were reduced by 90%. On May 13, 2026, Asr-e Iran newspaper revealed that electricity allocations for some industries had been cut from 8 megawatts to 2 megawatts.
Ali Akbar Alvandian, secretary of Iran’s Cement Association, said operating at 10% capacity is economically unviable for factories.
While manufacturers are already struggling with liquidity shortages and limited access to raw materials, the lack of electricity is delivering the final blow to the industrial sector.
Power Outages and Electricity Sold at Four Times the Price on the Energy Exchange
Iran’s regime is placing additional pressure on manufacturers by selling electricity on the Energy Exchange at four times its normal price. While citizens and industries struggle with losses caused by ongoing power outages and expensive electricity, the revenue generated from this imbalance flows into government coffers.
This approach not only fuels inflation in essential goods such as cement but also undermines public trust. Continued blackouts alongside government-driven energy price increases are clear signs of ineffective and incompetent economic and infrastructure policymaking.
The government has claimed that the power outages are the result of foreign attacks.
These problems existed long before the recent developments and have been worsened by ineffective policies. Under these circumstances, raising electricity prices on the Energy Exchange and imposing higher costs on industries and citizens without improving grid stability has only increased economic pressure.
