Iran’s energy crisis hits ‘dire’ point as industries are forced to shut down

TEHRAN - Government offices in Iran are closed or operating at reduced hours. Schools and colleges have moved to online learning only. Highways and shopping malls have descended into darkness, and industrial plants have been denied power, bringing manufacturing to a near halt.

Although Iran has one of the biggest supplies of natural gas and crude oil in the world, it is in a full-blown energy crisis that can be attributed to years of sanctions, mismanagement, ageing infrastructure, wasteful consumption – and targeted attacks by Israel.

“We are facing very dire imbalances in gas, electricity, energy, water, money and environment,” said President Masoud Pezeshkian in a live televised address to the nation in December.

While Iran has been struggling with issues with its infrastructure for years, the President warned that the problem had reached a critical point.

For most of the past week, the country was virtually shut down to save energy. As ordinary Iranians fumed and industrial leaders warned that the accompanying losses amounted to tens of billions of dollars, Mr Pezeshkian could offer no solution other than to say he was sorry.

Officials have said the deficit in the amount of gas the country needs to function amounts to about 350 million cubic m a day, and as temperatures have plunged and demand has spiked, officials have had to resort to extreme measures to ration gas.

The government faced two stark choices. It either had to cut gas service to residential homes or shut down the supply to power plants that generated electricity. It chose the latter, as turning gas off to residential units would come with serious safety hazards and would cut off the primary source of heat for most Iranians.

By Dec 20, 17 power plants had been completely taken offline and the rest were only partially operational.

Tavanir, the state power company, warned of widespread power cuts that could last days or weeks.

A lesser-known factor has exacerbated the energy crisis in 2024.

In February, Israel blew up two gas pipelines in Iran as part of its covert war with the country.

As a result, the government quietly tapped emergency gas reserves to avoid disrupting service to millions of people, according to an official from the oil ministry and Mr Seyed Hamid Hosseini, a member of the Chamber of Commerce’s energy committee. NYTIMES