TBILISI, July 24 — Tbilisi and much of Georgia were left without electricity overnight after a major disruption to the country's power grid, according to preliminary information. Authorities have not yet identified the cause of the outage.

The widespread blackout struck shortly after midnight on July 24, affecting most of the country. Power was cut in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi and several other cities.

According to the Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE), an emergency shutdown occurred at approximately 12:15 a.m. local time, causing electricity demand on the national grid to drop sharply from around 1,860 megawatts to 563 megawatts.

Residents across multiple regions also reported widespread power outages on social media, local news outlet Civil.ge reported.

Electricity distribution in Georgia is handled by Telasi in Tbilisi and Energo-Pro Georgia across most of the country's regions, while the state-owned Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE) operates the high-voltage transmission network and is responsible for balancing the national grid. GSE coordinates the operation of Georgia's power system and leads the response to major system-wide disruptions.

As of publication, neither the Georgian government nor the national grid operator had issued an official statement on the cause of the outage. Authorities have also not disclosed how many consumers were affected or when electricity supplies are expected to be fully restored.