Pakistan will suspend electricity supply for about two hours during peak-usage times every evening, the government said, in an effort to manage energy prices affected by the Iran war.

Power will be suspended in most of the country for two-and-a-quarter hours between 5:00 pm and 1:00 am each day, according to a statement released by the energy ministry on Tuesday.

Demand peaks at these times, with expensive furnace-oil-fired plants needed to bridge the gap left by reduced hydroelectric generation.

The blackouts will occur on a rolling basis -- rather than at the same time across the country -- with the country’s largest city Karachi, home to more than 20 million, exempt from the cuts.