PAKISTAN is dimming its lights again—this time by design.

The government’s decision to enforce roughly 2.25 hours of daily outages during peak evening demand is being framed as a calculated move to prevent a tariff shock. On paper, the logic is defensible: generating electricity through expensive imported fuels during high-demand hours would push prices sharply upward. But when a country must choose between darkness and unaffordable power, it is not managing a fluctuation—it is confronting a structural fault line.

Call it what it is: a system under stress. The immediate trigger is clear. Fuel constraints, worsened by disruptions in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies amid global tensions, have tightened Pakistan’s already fragile energy balance. For years, the country has leaned heavily on imported fuels to bridge its energy gap. That dependence now stands exposed. When supply chains falter, the grid does not merely strain—it reveals how little control Pakistan has over its own energy security. Compounding this is a familiar seasonal reality: reduced hydropower generation and a sharp surge in evening demand. The system, officials insist, can meet total demand—but only at a cost that would ripple through the economy. Running plants on furnace oil or high-cost imports during peak hours could push tariffs up by Rs5 to Rs6 per unit. Faced with that prospect, the state has opted for controlled outages, limiting the increase to a more manageable range.

So demand is curtailed to protect prices. This is the essence of the so-called........

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