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Iran’s power outages stress citizens

Parnian Shahsavary/YJI

TEHRAN – For the past few months, Tehran’s power has gone down multiple times without any warning or time limit. Some local districts didn’t have electricity for eight hours.

What’s the worst thing that can happen? Having to take the stairs instead of using the elevator or lighting up a candle? Well, no.

Students are having problems with both online and offline classes. Copy machines stopped working and students had to wait longer than usual, which makes them feel even more stressed about their exams and about covid.

Don’t get me started on masks in the heat, or the lack of air-conditioning when the power is out. Employees who work with computers and rely on wifi are also struggling.

Covid-19 patients who stayed in their houses for personal medical care often need oxygen, which requires power.

Iranians have lost many of our loved ones because the power shut down in both hospitals and homes. The gap between the time that doctors have to attach the ventilator machine to an emergency power source puts patients who are in the intensive care unit in a deadly situation.

Traffic lights, air conditioners, fridges and freezers inside stores – they’re also part of this chaos.

Car crashes and dark streets make us feel unsafe. Children, the elderly or people with medical conditions are the groups who are most vulnerable in hot weather.

It’s already hot with air conditioners, but their conditions must be insufferable.

Foods and nutritional products will rot and got to waste, which is a big loss to business owners.

Outside the city, farmers with animal stock are paying an expensive price. A few hours of hot weather can kill hundreds of chicken. Besides the horrible death and the waste, farmers suffered a big financial and physical loss.

This also increases the value – and cost to consumers – of animal protein. Many people won’t be able to afford it.

The reason for these power outages is that the amount of energy needed is more than power plants can produce. The vast amount of energy used to create digital currency, the hot summer, an overuse of power and reluctance to use new energy technology makes this situation worse.

Digital currencies, hot summer, overusing the power and not using the new technology for making power are the reasons for this situation.

It’s predictable that our summers are hot – it’s just the new, irregular way of using power for digital currencies drains needed energy. We could make up the difference with solar power – we have sunshine in abundance – but our government just doesn’t use it.

It’s a shame that our politicians talk about being independent and having great weaponry but can’t even handle the people’s most simple and essential need.

Parnian Shahsavary is a Reporter and Senior Illustrator with Youth Journalism International.

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