President Orders Real-Time Monitoring Room for Iran's Provincial Energy Savings

The president outlined the government's operational plan for managing energy consumption at three levels: executive bodies and the public sector, the economic and production sector, and the public and household sector. Stressing the need to turn announced plans and directives into measurable action, he called for a continuous monitoring and performance-evaluation mechanism across the country. According to president.ir, the national energy consumption management program has moved from the stage of design, coordination and issuing of directives into the operational phase. The move is part of the government's broader efforts to ensure a stable energy supply and get through the coming winter without difficulty, with priority given to protecting the production cycle and avoiding gas restrictions on industry. At this stage, provincial management and executive capacities are being activated, a mechanism for real-time monitoring of agency performance is being put in place, and the economic and public sectors are being brought in, making field implementation of energy-saving and optimization programs a serious priority. The energy and fuel consumption management coordination meeting was held Saturday chaired by President Masoud Pezeshkian. It was attended by Mohsen Haji Mirzaei, the president's chief of staff; the interior and energy ministers; the caretaker oil minister; the head of the Energy Optimization and Strategic Management Organization; the president's executive deputy; and deputies and representatives of other executive bodies. "With continued management and coordination among agencies, we can get through winter without restricting gas to industry." Thanking the managers of executive bodies, particularly the Energy and Oil ministries, Pezeshkian said that despite all the imbalances and the country's special circumstances, the managers' efforts and sense of responsibility had prevented any disruption in energy and fuel supply and distribution. He said that, if this continues and coordination is strengthened, this winter can also be passed without problems. The president then described the government's operational plan at its three levels and stressed that the announced programs and directives must become measurable executive actions, with a continuous monitoring and performance-evaluation mechanism established nationwide.

Energy management: the main yardstick for evaluating managers across the country

Outlining the requirements for executive bodies, Pezeshkian reminded managers of their responsibility to implement the directives drawn up for fuel conservation and optimization. He stressed the immediate establishment of a daily, real-time monitoring room for agency performance, centered on the Interior Ministry. He said it must be clear how, and to what extent, every executive body in the country is implementing, or has implemented, the directives it has been given. He added that, under the plans drawn up and announced, governors, county governors, district governors and village administrators are required to hold regular, ongoing energy management meetings at their respective levels. Through engagement with process owners and the officials concerned, they must demand that conservation requirements are met and supervise their implementation. The president said training and briefing staff on ways to cut consumption, engineering and optimizing buildings, improving the condition of rooms and boiler rooms, and enforcing the issued regulations are among the areas that should be addressed. He said appropriate incentives and rewards should be provided for managers who succeed in conservation programs, while punitive and deterrent measures should be applied to those whose performance does not match their responsibilities. Stressing that, in the country's current circumstances, energy management is the most important yardstick for evaluating managers nationwide, he said managers must completely eliminate wasteful and excessive consumption in the agencies, offices and buildings under their control. He said successful management today is defined by the ability to save and reduce energy consumption. Pezeshkian listed lowering temperatures in office rooms with staff wearing suitable clothing, overhauling and upgrading boiler rooms to improve efficiency, fully closing unused or little-used spaces and rooms, and reforming energy-use practices among the measures that executive bodies must pursue seriously. The president also stressed that the 10-article regulation issued for energy management and conservation is a flexible document that can be expanded. If a manager working in the field offers a creative, more effective solution or a better proposal for reducing consumption, it should be raised and reviewed and, if effective, extended to other sectors and regions of the country as a successful experience.

Supplying energy to industry and producers is a government priority; the economic sector's cooperation is essential to getting through winter

Describing the second part of the government's plan, he addressed trade guilds, chambers of commerce, industries and the owners of economic and production processes. He said that, through regular and continuous meetings, the government has made supplying the fuel and energy needed by industry and production units a priority and has done everything it can to meet this sector's needs under any circumstances, despite existing challenges and imbalances, and to ensure industrial gas is not cut off. Pezeshkian stressed that achieving this goal requires mutual cooperation between the production sector and the government. He said industries and production units must also prioritize conservation and energy optimization as far as possible, so that by managing available resources, the government can meet its targets for a stable supply of the energy they need. He called on the heads of guilds and chambers of commerce to hold regular meetings with their members, and said that, with provincial managers, economic actors and process owners present, the country's situation should be explained along with practical conservation methods, and the matter kept continuously on the agenda. Pezeshkian said that if economic actors and industry owners are invited to take part and the necessities and goals are properly explained to them, they will surely cooperate.

Public and household participation: the third pillar of the government's plan to strengthen national energy resilience

Describing the third part of the plan, he stressed the decisive role of the public and social institutions in energy management. He called NGOs, grassroots organizations, the Basij, Friday prayer leaders, mosques and other social capacities important pillars of the plan. He said the country's special circumstances must be explained to the public, so that everyone knows that this year, to prevent industrial gas cuts, production stoppages, worker unemployment and economic hardship, the serious cooperation and participation of the people in saving energy is needed more than ever. Pointing to the considerable potential of the household and public sectors for reducing energy consumption, the president said, for example, that mosques need not be heated around the clock; heating can be limited to prayer times and the hours when worshippers are present. At home, he said, consumption can be reduced by lowering room temperatures and wearing warmer clothing, without disrupting daily life. Pezeshkian listed insulating doors and windows to prevent energy loss and managing boiler room operating hours as other effective measures. He added that people who own villas and second homes can avoid unnecessary visits to these properties during this period, or refrain from keeping boilers and heating systems running continuously when the properties are not in use. Stressing that the most important element in strengthening the country's resilience is maintaining the stability of the production cycle and industry, he said that if households and the public sector, including mosques, prayer halls and Hosseiniyehs, save a little energy, the country can certainly achieve its goals. The president stressed that responsibility for conservation must not be shifted onto others. He said that if every individual assumes that others should be the ones to save, the country will face a problem. Every action, however small, done at the scale of a village or neighborhood and spread across the country, adds up across thousands of locations to a considerable saving in energy. Responding to the interior minister's move to dim part of the lighting in the meeting room, Pezeshkian said that if everyone at home and all employees in offices and workplaces took this same simple step, the combined savings in gas and electricity would be considerable. He said it could be used in favor of production and industry and to strengthen the country's resilience.

Setting up a real-time provincial monitoring room: moving from ceremonial meetings to oversight and operational action

The president again stressed the need to immediately set up a room for real-time monitoring of provincial performance in energy management and fuel conservation. He said the oversight mechanism should be designed so that agency performance across the country can be assessed directly and in real time. It should be possible, he said, to contact a university or provincial office in the north, west, east or south of the country from this room at any moment, ask the officials concerned how consumption management programs are being implemented and what has been done, and receive a clear answer. The president also instructed the Ministry of Communications to provide the communications infrastructure needed to connect the relevant agencies in real time and enable continuous monitoring of their performance. Stressing the government's shift from purely coordinating meetings to operational implementation of decisions, Pezeshkian said: "We have moved beyond mere, ceremonial meetings and reached the stage of action and operations." He acknowledged that conveying the message to towns and cities and changing behavior may take time, but said a manager's skill lies in turning the message into executive behavior in the shortest possible time through repetition, follow-up and persistence.

Strengthening national resilience and protecting jobs: the government's strategic priority for the coming winter

Referring to the conditions created by the war and the consequences of the actions of the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran, he said the world has suffered heavy damage and hardship because of their inhumane, warmongering and criminal acts. Above all, however, he said, the resilience of the Iranian nation in the face of such problems, crises and pressures has drawn the attention and amazement of other societies, and the world now views the Iranian nation differently. The president stressed that everyone must work together to strengthen this resilience day by day, and that one of its most important requirements is maintaining the stability of the country's production and industry. Stating that supplying and distributing the energy and fuel needed by industry and the production sector is the government's most important issue and priority in current conditions, Pezeshkian added that, if necessary, he would personally attend the working group and committee meetings at the Interior Ministry and the monitoring room every day, to follow up continuously on the implementation of programs and the agencies' actions. He also described the role of the national broadcaster as very important in building a culture of conservation, explaining the need for savings suited to the country's circumstances this winter, and inviting people to take part. He stressed the need to use the broadcaster's capacity to turn energy consumption management into a public demand and public behavior. Referring to the Leader's approach to moving the country out of the "no war, no peace" situation, the president said the government is also working to bring the country through these conditions with dignity. But he said this must not stand in the way of careful, serious planning for managing and saving fuel and energy. All programs, he said, must be pursued and implemented seriously and be properly supervised. Stressing the need to protect jobs and keep production units running, Pezeshkian said: "We must not allow even a single job to be lost this winter." He said the more successful the government is in achieving this goal, the more successful it will have been in managing the country's conditions and strengthening its economic resilience.

Memorandum on energy management and optimization at the provincial level signed

At the end of the meeting, in the president's presence, a memorandum of understanding on energy management and optimization at the provincial level, centered on the Interior Ministry's working group, was signed by the oil, energy and interior ministers and the head of the Energy Optimization and Strategic Management Organization. The memorandum was signed to strengthen coordination and synergy among the responsible agencies, develop integrated energy consumption management in the provinces, and put conservation and optimization programs into operation at various executive levels across the country. - Shana