Blackouts will be two or four hours, not eight, with schedules set by local utilities, gov’t says

In the latest in a series of contradictory and confusing messages, the Energy Ministry announced Wednesday morning that electric blackouts planned for Wednesday and Thursday night will be two to four hours in length with schedules determined by local electric distributors. For the schedules for Cuenca and Azuay province, click here.

Energy Minister Antonio Gonçalves

On Tuesday morning, Energy Minister Antonio Gonçalves said all outages would be for a period of eight hours with the schedule set by the ministry.

In a television interview last week, Gonçalves had claimed that his office had the “electricity problems under control” and that there would be no blackouts while he was Energy Minister.

In another messaging about-face, the Interior Ministry announced Tuesday that a curfew during blackouts would apply only to six provinces and Camilo Ponce Enríquez canton in Azuay Province.

On Monday, the ministry issued a statement that the curfew would apply nationwide.