Tehran has entered its summer power-cut season, with the city’s electricity distributor confirming scattered, scheduled outages across the capital as heatwave temperatures push consumption to strained levels. If you’re living in Tehran, here’s what’s actually happening, how the outage groups work, and how to check your own schedule reliably.
Why the outages are happening
Tehran’s power grid has been running below its needs for months. The capital requires around 15,000 megawatts (MW) at peak summer demand but can currently supply only 10,000MW to 11,000MW, a shortfall of roughly 4,000MW, according to Tehran’s electricity distribution company. Iran’s Parliament Research Center has projected a national production deficit of up to 13,000MW this summer.
Part of the shortfall traces back to damage sustained during this year’s conflict, when strikes knocked out an estimated 4,200MW of capacity and damaged more than 2,000 points across the national grid. On top of that, over 90% of Iran’s electricity generation depends on thermal power plants, which are themselves vulnerable to fuel supply issues and heat-related efficiency losses.
The result: Tehran’s distribution company has been implementing scattered, scheduled restrictions since July 15 (24 Tir 1405) to protect the stability of the network, rather than risk uncontrolled, larger-scale blackouts.
The circulating 8-group schedule
An infographic has been widely shared across Iranian outlets and social media this week, dividing Tehran into eight outage groups (A through H), each covering a cluster of districts with an approximate outage window:
| Group | Districts | Approximate Window |
|---|---|---|
| A | 1, 3, 4 | 8:00–10:00 |
| B | 5, 6, 7 | 10:00–12:00 |
| C | 8, 9, 10 | 12:00–14:00 |
| D | 11, 12, 13 | 14:00–16:00 |
| E | 14, 15, 16 | 16:00–18:00 |
| F | 17, 18, 19 | 20:00–22:00 |
| G | 20, 21, 22 | 22:00–00:00 |
| H | 23 | 22:00–00:00 |
A word of caution on this table: Tehran’s electricity distribution company and Tavanir have repeatedly stressed that outage assignment is not a simple district-wide lookup, buildings on the same street can fall into different groups depending on which local transformer feeds them, and multiple supply sources at one address can place it in more than one group. Officials have specifically asked residents to rely on personalised, official checking methods rather than any single circulating table, precisely because generalised schedules like this one can be inaccurate for individual buildings. Treat the table above as a rough planning guide, not a guarantee.
How to check your actual outage schedule
For an accurate reading tied to your specific address, use one of these official channels with your 13-digit bill ID:
- Barghe Man app or website (bargheman.com), register with your mobile number and bill ID, then check “scheduled outages.”
- Tehran Electricity Emergency Smart System (tbtb.ir), an interactive map showing outage windows by neighbourhood.
- USSD code
#500*121#, dial from your mobile phone. - Building manager SMS alerts, distribution companies are sending scheduling texts to registered building managers to relay to residents.
If an outage happens outside your officially confirmed window, it’s more likely a fault or building wiring issue than a scheduled cut, and can be reported by texting your bill ID followed by *121 to 30001211.
Safety and preparation tips
A few practical points worth building into your routine while outages continue:
- Avoid lifts near your scheduled window. If you think an outage is close, don’t risk getting stuck between floors.
- Charge essentials in advance. Phones, power banks, and anything else you rely on should be topped up before your group’s window opens.
- Plan around vulnerable household members. If you have elderly relatives, young children, or anyone unwell at home, factor their needs into the outage timing.
- Arrange backup power for medical equipment. Anyone using electric medical devices should have a battery or generator backup sorted well ahead of time, not during the outage itself.
- Unplug sensitive electronics. Fridges, freezers, and TVs can be damaged by voltage fluctuations when power cuts in and out, unplugging them for the outage window reduces that risk.
- Prepare lighting, skip candles. Keep a torch or battery-powered light ready rather than relying on open flames, particularly with children or flammable materials nearby.
- Ease back in once power returns. Avoid switching every appliance back on simultaneously with your neighbours, since that surge in demand is part of what strains the network in the first place.
- Store water in advance. Power cuts can disrupt local water pumps and pressure, so keeping a reserve on hand is sensible, particularly during the hottest parts of the day.
The bigger picture
These outages aren’t a one-off. Officials have indicated the difficult supply situation is expected to persist for at least eight weeks from the start of the summer peak period, with Tavanir asking all subscribers to cut consumption to help reduce the network strain. Given the scale of the shortfall and the extent of war-related grid damage still being repaired, residents should expect this rolling outage pattern, unofficial neighbourhood tables and all, to remain a fact of life for Tehran through the summer months.