Pakistan experienced widespread power outages on January 23, 2023, that lasted up to 15 hours in some areas and almost 24 hours in others, affecting millions. Homes, hospitals, and industries were operating at limited capacity or shut down completely. All commercial activities were disrupted during the day as the outages crippled mobile services and the internet. Major cities such as the capital Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi were plunged into darkness as the sun went down. Although electricity was restored in some regions within a few hours, the rest of the country resumed normal operations later in the evening.
A satellite image of the region showing the yesterday's blackout pic.twitter.com/rsLxYLyfc8
— Un.seen Pakistan (@Unseen_Pakistan) January 24, 2023
A system failure
On January 3, 2023, the government mandated early closing for malls and markets at 8:30 pm to reduce electricity consumption, a plan which was expected to save the country about PKR 62 billion (equivalent to USD 380 million). In the early hours of Monday, January 23, the electricity was turned off during low usage hours overnight for conservation purposes, but the technicians were unable to boot the system up at daybreak. The Ministry of Energy reported that the National Grid’s system frequency dropped at 7:34 am, leading to a nationwide power failure.
Social activist Siraj Noorani tweeted:
More than 12 power plants are #ShutDown due to a technical issue and Work on restoration of #electricity still going on.#Karachi where the entire city was immersed in darkness throughout the night.#Pakistan #PowerBreakDown #poweroutage #PakistanEconomy #Blackout #Lahore pic.twitter.com/NIFcxcwPI3
— Siraj Noorani (@sirajnoorani) January 24, 2023
The Blackout Book: A Quick Start Guide to Handling a Power Outage Like a Boss
Train services were disrupted in some areas, as journalist Chaudhary Parvez noted:
Power breakdown in #Pakistan, Orange train service stopped, Trains halted at places in Beach track, Passengers were trapped inside the train.#poweroutage #PakistanEconomy #Pakistani #Blackout #Lahore pic.twitter.com/TX0CvYrmgU
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) January 23, 2023
Minister of Energy Khurram Dastagir tweeted the progress of the restoration work:
Mon 7:34am, large voltage swing in south cascaded northwards to cause breakdown
We are restoring electricity from north to south
Electricity is restored partially in distribution companies Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, & Sukkur
KE is reporting very limited restoration
— Engr. Khurram Dastgir-Khan (@kdastgirkhan) January 23, 2023
The Minister announced in the late evening of January 23rd that electricity had been restored in most parts of the country. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an investigation to uncover the cause of the power outage.
On behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincere regrets for the inconvenience our citizens suffered due to power outage yesterday. On my orders an inquiry is underway to determine reasons of the power failure. Responsibility will be fixed.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) January 24, 2023
The minister suggested that foreign involvement may have been a factor in the incident during his remarks about the investigation.
In addition to other services, internet connectivity was also unstable. NetBlocks.org, an internet-access advocacy group, reported via a tweet based on network data:
ℹ️ Update: Regional metrics show telecommunications in most regions of #Pakistan have been impacted by the nation-scale power outage, with authorities reportedly working to repair the breakdown — the second in a year trigged by fluctuations in the energy grid ⚡???? pic.twitter.com/uB0hgBQqtb
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 23, 2023
Blackouts and the economic crisis
Pakistan has suffered two significant blackouts in recent years — a nine-hour blackout in 2018 and an 18-hour blackout in major cities in 2021. Such crises not only affect daily life, but also the economy — the most recent incident resulted in an estimated loss of PKR 100 billion (equivalent to USD 380 million). The country is currently facing a major economic crisis, with citizens facing rising food prices and inflation and declining foreign currency reserves, hindering imports.
Due to yesterday’s blackout, the #textile sector in #Pakistan lost an account estimated loss of $70 million worth of #exports says APTMA sec gen. https://t.co/NIwoG85XAd
— Zofeen Ebrahim (@zofeen28) January 24, 2023
Amidst the darkness, netizens turned to sarcasm and jokes to get through the testing times, resulting in lots of memes on Twitter. Imran Usafzai from Islamabad accused the Pakistan Prime Minister of mishandling the situation:
Thankyou #ShehbazSharif for throwing nation back to #StoneAge era…Worst #PowerBreakDown ever almost 14 hours .. pic.twitter.com/8H3WCd1Wsb
— Stay @ Home Stay Safe (@ImranUsafzai) January 23, 2023
RJ Sabah Bano Malik quipped about her unfortunate experience during the outage:
thank goodness i converted all my gas appliances to electric in time for the power outage!
— Sabah Bano Malik (@sabahbanomalik) January 23, 2023
Zain Ali mentioned that the power outage caught everybody by surprise:
The whole country waking up to no electricity: #poweroutage pic.twitter.com/7lpulJqjBz
— Zain Ali (@theycallme_jutt) January 23, 2023
Hey, why is it so dark everywhere?
User Sam shine joked about how people were still using Twitter during the power cut:
Everyone running to twitter to confirm it's #poweroutage across????#ElectricityShutDown pic.twitter.com/9VRX5JZNxO
— Sam shine (@sana_foodie) January 23, 2023
Expat Pakistani Hussain Maqbool Ahmed shared an empty screen:
It has been ~24 hrs since the system is rebooting in #Pakistan.#poweroutage #blackout pic.twitter.com/QXr9YF8YNQ
— Hussain Maqbool Ahmed (@HMAKhuwaja) January 24, 2023
Source: Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed is a journalist by profession. Also a member of Bargaad’s steering committee on education for minorities and was regional gate keeper of Punjab in Network of Women for Journalists for Digital Rights Foundation. Activist for Digital, Minorities, Animals and Transgender Rights. I write on issues related to these matters. Ive traveled and spent time abroad and now residing in Lahore trying to make a difference in the life of marginalised communities.
Image: A wind power generation plant located in Thatta District, Pakistan. Wind energy accounts for only around 6% of the total electricity production in the country. Image via Flickr by Asian Development Bank. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
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