The Sound of Rising Prices Again; Minister of Energy Reports 100 Trillion Tomans Debt in the Electricity Industry

The Minister of Energy of the Islamic Republic announced the accumulated debt of the country's electricity industry to be around 100 trillion tomans. Ali Akbar Mehrabian claimed on Tuesday, December 4, in the Islamic Consultative Assembly that the issue of 'electricity imbalance' has been resolved and emphasized that 'price adjustments in this industry are necessary.' According to Mehrabian, the 100 trillion tomans is the amount of debt owed by the Ministry of Energy to various contractors, power plants, and other entities in the country. These statements come despite the fact that on January 24, 2023, the Islamic Consultative Assembly communicated a law regarding the payment of part of the government's debt to the electricity industry to the government, indicating that no significant action has taken place in this regard. A review of related news shows that the government of Hassan Rouhani handed over the electricity industry to the government of Ebrahim Raisi with a debt of 84 trillion tomans. Based on statistics published by the Ministry of Energy at that time, the debt of the electricity industry had reached 84 trillion tomans by the year 1400 (2021), which according to Mehrabian's statements has increased to 100 trillion tomans in the two years of Ebrahim Raisi's presidency. Alongside this accumulation of debt, the Minister's claim about resolving the electricity imbalance comes at a time when, as in recent years, electricity supply to industries was rationed last summer, leading to significant criticism. In this context, on July 13, a newspaper quoted a steel producer stating that for every 24 hours of production stoppage, his company incurs nearly 10 billion tomans in losses. Ali Akbar Alvandian, the secretary of the Cement Employers Association, also stated on September 27 that the losses incurred by the cement industry are double those of other industries, explaining that the unique production process in the cement industry leads to two days of factory shutdowns for every day of electricity outage. The main cause of the electricity imbalance is the government's debt to the private sector and the lack of necessary investment to create new electricity production capacities. Reports from open data in Iran indicate that the price of a serving of chelow kebab is twice the daily food cost of a worker. Fact-checking 10 claims by Ebrahim Raisi; the Iranian economy has not grown. Raisi stated in a press conference about 'economic prosperity' and 'nearing the peak'; Raisi does not accept the realities. The challenge of electricity cuts for Iranian industries; every hour of blackout leads to a 20% reduction in production. The continuation of rising prices and inflation; Ali Khamenei: The nuclear industry is for improving people's living conditions.