ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) has announced a scheduled suspension of electricity supply in parts of Islamabad, Rawalpindi Cantt and Jhelum on Thursday, July 23, 2026, to carry out routine maintenance and development work on its distribution network, the utility said in a notification issued late Wednesday.
According to IESCO, the outages will affect specific 11kV feeders across three of its operational circles, along with a separate set of shutdowns on transmission infrastructure under its Grid System Operations (GSO) Circle, which will run for considerably longer in some areas.
The company said power supply would be restored ahead of the announced schedule if maintenance work is completed early, and it apologised to consumers for the inconvenience — a standard disclaimer that has accompanied nearly all of IESCO’s shutdown notices during the current maintenance cycle.
Key Developments
In the Islamabad Circle, electricity will remain suspended from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in areas served by the Kurri, Rehara, CM Pak Zong and IT Park feeders, the utility said.
Consumers in the Rawalpindi Cantt Circle connected to the LTC, New Mandra, Old Mandra, Hamid Jhangi, Old Rawat, New Rawat, AOWHS, Suparco and CWO feeders will also be without power during the same four-hour window, from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
In the Jhelum Circle, IESCO said outages will hit areas fed by the Hayat Sir Road, Karyala, Metro City, Grand City and Bolani feeders, also between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
The longest disruptions on Thursday fall under the GSO Circle, which covers cantonment and grid-station areas around Jhelum and Rawalpindi. Power will be suspended from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. — a seven-hour window — in localities served by the Capt. Nasir, Col. Akram, Mangla Cantt, Dina-3 and Dina-4 feeders.
Two additional shutdowns will affect transmission-level infrastructure: the 132kV AWC HMC Taxila and 132kV Sangjani–Burhan lines will be out from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., while the 132kV Kahuta City–Palandri and 132kV New Wah–Bahtar More lines, along with associated earth-switch works, will remain offline for ten hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., IESCO said, affecting consumers connected to those lines and surrounding localities.
Official Statement
An IESCO spokesperson said the shutdowns are part of the company’s ongoing programme of preventive maintenance and feeder upgrades aimed at reducing unplanned breakdowns and improving long-term service reliability across its coverage area. The utility reiterated that the restoration timings listed are indicative, and that supply could resume earlier than scheduled once field teams complete the required work on each feeder.
IESCO also clarified that no annual maintenance shutdown affecting its wider network of 11kV feeders, 132kV grid stations or transmission lines has been announced alongside Thursday’s notice, distinguishing this from a broader network-wide exercise.
Public Impact
Residents and businesses on the listed feeders should expect electricity to be unavailable for up to four hours in the Islamabad, Rawalpindi Cantt and Jhelum circles, and considerably longer — up to ten hours — in parts of the GSO Circle, including Mangla Cantt, Dina and areas along the Kahuta–Palandri and New Wah–Bahtar More transmission corridors.
Households are advised to plan water pumping, laundry and other electricity-dependent chores outside the outage windows. Small businesses, shopkeepers and industrial units connected to the affected feeders — particularly in Rawalpindi’s cantonment localities and Jhelum’s Karyala and Metro City areas — face a temporary halt in electricity-dependent operations unless they have backup arrangements in place. Hospitals, telecom installations and other essential facilities on IESCO’s network typically maintain independent generator backup for scheduled outages of this kind, though the utility’s notification did not specify any exemptions for critical consumers on the listed feeders.
Commuters and residents relying on electric water supply pumps in cantonment areas may also face intermittent water pressure issues during the outage window, a common secondary effect of extended power suspensions in these localities.
Background and Context
IESCO is one of Pakistan’s ten state-run power distribution companies and operates under the Ministry of Energy’s Power Division, with regulatory oversight from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). Its service territory spans the federal capital and the districts of Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal and Jhelum in northern Punjab — a mixed urban, cantonment and industrial consumer base that includes government installations, defence establishments and commercial hubs.
Thursday’s notice is the latest in a string of similar circle-wise shutdown announcements IESCO has issued through July and August, covering various combinations of the Islamabad, Rawalpindi City, Rawalpindi Cantt, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum and GSO circles on a near-daily basis. The company has consistently attributed these to 11kV feeder development, grid-station upgrades and transmission-line maintenance rather than to load-shedding driven by a supply-demand shortfall, a distinction IESCO has repeatedly emphasised in its public notices.
Economic and Policy Implications
Planned, pre-announced outages are generally regarded by utilities and regulators as preferable to unscheduled breakdowns, since they give consumers — particularly commercial and industrial users — advance notice to adjust operations. However, the recurring frequency of such notices across IESCO’s jurisdiction in recent weeks reflects the scale of deferred feeder upgrades and grid maintenance still required across the network serving Islamabad and the wider Potohar region.
For small and medium enterprises operating on the affected feeders, repeated multi-hour suspensions — even when scheduled — can still translate into lost productivity and higher reliance on diesel generators, particularly for businesses without access to solar or battery backup. The GSO Circle’s extended ten-hour shutdown on select transmission lines is likely to have the most pronounced impact on consumers in Jhelum’s cantonment and Mangla-adjacent localities, where restoration depends on the completion of higher-voltage transmission work rather than localised feeder repairs.
What Happens Next
IESCO has indicated it will continue issuing area-wise shutdown notices for its operational circles as maintenance work progresses, with updates typically released a day in advance through the company’s official social media channels. Consumers on the affected feeders can verify feeder-specific timings and any last-minute changes through IESCO’s helpline or its official notifications ahead of Thursday’s outage window.
The utility has not indicated when the current cycle of feeder development work across Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Jhelum is expected to conclude, suggesting similar notices are likely to follow in the coming days.
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