Energy Ministry pulls another switcheroo, increasing blackouts to 12 hours — and more — from eight

A day after the Energy Minister Inés Manzano announced blackout hours would increase from six to eight hours a day beginning Sunday, the Ministry of Energy and Mines issued a statement Saturday morning that blackouts would be 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday night, the ministry extended the 12-hour blackouts to Monday and Tuesday.

Electric generators on the streets of Cuenca and other cities will work overtime in the coming days, as the government extends blackout hours.

The ministry said the change of schedule was necessary due to emergency maintenance on the Agoyán and San Francisco thermal power plants. It also attributed the change to “worsening hydrological conditions” at the Mazar reservoir and the Rio Coca.

An unnamed source at the ministry told a Quito radio station Sunday that 12-hour blackouts would probably be extended through the entire, citing “miscommunication” between technical staff and government officials.

The last-minute schedule reversal was the second in three weeks, highlighting the government’s ongoing communication problems. On October 24, blackouts were extended to 14 hours, four days after President Daniel Noboa announced they would be reduced to four.

Citizen complaints dominated media reports over the weekend as utility customers claimed blackout schedules were not being followed. Some residents in Cuenca and Quito, reported they had no electricity for as long as 20 hours on Sunday, while others said their power went on and off for short intervals. A spokesman at Centrosur in Cuenca said it was following ministry orders but did not have time to update its posted schedule.

Energy expert Andrés Oquendo called the government’s management of the crisis a “continuing disaster” and said Ecuadorians are justifiably upset. “They [the ministry] have the information to handle the situation responsibly but keep making ignorant mistakes, apparently putting political interests above technical ones.”