The southeastern province of Antep, one of Turkey’s hottest provinces, has been facing prolonged power outages during the peak summer months, compounding the challenges of extreme heat. While the situation has eased in some central districts since mid-July, outages continue in rural areas.
Local residents say the repeated and lengthy outages not only make daily life difficult but also cause financial losses. One resident complained that food stored in refrigerators had spoiled and that many household appliances were damaged.
The outages have also disrupted local businesses. Shopkeepers have been unable to preserve perishable goods, while construction workers could not operate machinery. Offices without generators, including those of architects and engineers, were forced to halt work. Local food businesses paused sales of meat, chicken, and fish due to spoilage risks.
Increased consumption
The region’s electricity distributor, Toroslar Electricity Distribution Inc. (EDAŞ), attributed the outages to overloading on the grid caused by increased electricity use during periods of extreme heat.
According to EDAŞ data, electricity consumption in the region rose from about 16.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2020 to over 20 billion kWh in 2025. Experts say infrastructure has not kept pace with the rising demand, particularly after the massive double earthquake in Feb 2023, which impacted 11 provinces including Antep and left over 50,000 dead.
How Turkey's electricity distribution companies make excessive profits
Promised post-earthquake infrastructure projects in Antep remain incomplete, and many transformer networks are reportedly too damaged to handle current loads.
Cem Hüzmeli, Hatay representative of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers (EMO), noted that while outages in the Antakya region, which suffered the heaviest damage in the quakes, have been short and routine, neighboring provinces face more severe problems due to heavy air conditioner use.
He said overloaded transformers lead to short circuits and outages, blaming the issue on a lack of investment by distribution companies. “Before the earthquake, a single grid served 20 subscribers. After the quake, this number rose to 100," said Hüzmeli.
"Naturally, this caused serious strain on transformers, leading to explosions, fires, and prolonged outages. Only a portion of these problems were fixed through company investments," he added.
Responsibility of distribution companies
On solutions, he stressed the need for long-term planning: “With regular technical planning, identifying power needs, and making the necessary investments and maintenance, these problems can be resolved.
"In such large-scale relocations, outages and overloads are expected, but the distribution company must anticipate them and take measures. Establishing a well-planned and high-quality electricity distribution network is their core responsibility.” (AG/AB/VK)
