Businesses turn against Noboa as the government extends electrical disconnections to three days
Ecuador business leaders are telling President Daniel Noboa “enough is enough.”
As 9,000 large electricity users, almost all of them commercial operations, begin a week faced with three days of power blackouts, many business officials are demanding the government change its strategy for addressing the power crisis.
Business officials are asking the government for a change in strategy to deal with the energy crisis.
“A month ago, businesses supported the president in making a sacrifice so that homes would not suffer blackouts,” says Rodrigo Gómez, president of the Ecuadorian Business Committee. “It was our contribution to the welfare of the county. Now, however, as the energy crisis worsens, we are being asked to sacrifice the very viability of our companies. Many companies cannot function with three days of disconnection.”
Gómez questions the government’s strategy of protecting Ecuadorian households from blackouts at all costs. “Behind these companies are hundreds of thousands of employees and behind these employees are families who live in these households,” he says. “What happens if these jobs are lost? How will unemployed workers support the households the government is trying to protect?”
According to Gómez, it is time for the entire country, not just industry and the commercial sector, to share the burden of blackouts. “We have no alternative given the circumstances,” he says.
Gómez was one of dozens of business officials who complained Friday about the unscheduled business blackout that continued through the three-day weekend. “We were very little advance notice that power would be suspended,” he said. “This is an example of a lack of coordination and poor planning.”
Dozens of business groups, including the Chamber of Industries of Guayaquil, the Ecuadorian Business Committee, Dairy Industries of Ecuador, the Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor) and the National Chamber of Industries and Production are appealing to the government to change its approach to the energy shortage.
“The disconnections generate serious difficulties in maintaining production, which is critical for maintaining employment, so it is important that industry and the government work together on alternatives that facilitate the continuity of operations,” the Industries and Production Chamber said in a statement sent to the Ministry of Energy.
In its appeal to the government, Fedexpor warned that agricultural exports are at “high risk” as blackouts hours are extended. “Approximately 75% of the volume of exported cargo corresponds to perishable products, which require refrigeration for operational continuity and sustainability,” the federation said in a statement.
The federation added that although most of its members have backup generators, these are not sufficient to maintain 24-hour operations.
Even with changes to government strategy, it may be too late to protect households from blackouts, says electrical engineer and corporate consultant Juan Carlos Flores. “Without heavy rains in the mountains, especially in Cuenca, we are days away from general blackouts,” he says. “As it was in 2024, the crisis centers around the Mazar reservoir and its three generation stations. The reservoir could reach the critical low level within a week.”
In its Sunday morning bulletin, the National Electricity Operator (Cenace) reported the level of the Mazar reservoir at 2,126 meters above sea level, a drop of 1.64 meters in 24 hours and 11 meters above the critical operational level. Cenace also reported that the inflow rate from the Rio Paute is currently 33 cubic meters per second, below the normal inflow of 141.
“The stated objective of the industrial power cuts was to preserve the water level at Mazar, which meant reducing generation at the three plants,” Flores said. “Given the national power deficit, however, it has not been possible to rest the generators and Saturday they produced 30% of the country’s power. It should be no surprise that the water level is dropping.”
