Debts of electricity subscribers to the Energy Ministry have exceeded $2 billion, a deputy energy minister said.
"The amount of unpaid dues to the ministry has amounted to a massive $2.3 billion," Reza Anjomshoa was quoted as saying by IRNA.
According to the official, the outstanding debt has almost crippled the ministry's affiliated companies.
"Electricity generation costs, including the cost for generation and transmission, stands roughly at 3 cents per kilowatt-hour, yet it is sold to subscribers at 1.5 cents per kWh," Anjomshoa said, adding that the difference and the huge debts do not allow the ministry launch development ventures.
"The national grid has not been expanded enough in the last few years due to operational and financial constraints," he said.
He added that the power distribution network was largely deprived of investments in the last 10 years and that is why the infrastructure has remained underdeveloped.
The official noted that provincial distribution firms can neither expand the grid nor increase the power plants' efficiency unless the debts are settled.
The high rate of energy consumption in Iran, which is reportedly 14 times that of Japan for instance, will pose serious challenges to generate energy for future generations.
On the probability of power outages during the hot summer days, he noted that whether there will be blackouts depends on how prudent subscribers are.
According to Anjomshoa, regardless of the Energy Ministry's measures to expand power production capacity and infrastructure, "as long as the culture of prudent energy consumption is not inculcated among people, supply cuts cannot be avoided, especially in peak hours".
"Due to unprecedented reduction in annual precipitation, the country will not be able to generate as much power as it could with the help of its hydroelectric stations," he said, adding that hydroelectric power capacity will experience a 4,000-megawatt decrease in the current fiscal that started on March 20.
Of Iran's total installed power generating capacity that stands at 77,000 MW, 10,000 MW can be produced in hydroelectric plants if there is enough rain.
"Electricity and power are not used judiciously in the agriculture sector," Anjomshoa said.
Power experts, such as Shams Ardekani, the head of Energy Commission of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, believe that "inexpensive power prices" and low tariffs have encouraged farmers to equip their wells with electric pumps, which normally work for three months non-stop, a scenario that definitely translates into wasting public and national funds.
The country's electricity consumption reached a peak of 55,400 megawatts in 2017, experiencing a 7% rise compared with the consumption level in the corresponding period of 2016.
