Government extends nighttime power blackouts to four days next week; Curfews are ordered

The government announced late Monday night that in addition to the overnight blackout Wednesday and Thursday, national blackouts will also be imposed next Monday to Thursday, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. “The schedule has been chosen in order to generate the least possible impact on productive activities during working days,” President Daniel Noboa said in a social media post.

The government admitted Monday night that the scheduled electric blackouts are the result of low water levels at the hydroelectric plant reservoirs.

In addition, the government it has ordered public workers that do not interact with the public to “telework” Thursday and Friday, and said the order may be extended.

In its official statement, the president’s office said the country is experiencing the “lowest water levels in 61 years” due to two years of below-normal rainfall. The reduced flow of rivers has dropped hydroelectric reservoir levels, affecting electric power generation, the statement said.

The statement repeated last week’s justification for the Wednesday-Thursday night blackout, saying a system-wide shutdown is required for maintenance work.

Unlike those of late 2023 and April 2024, the government said this and next week’s blackouts will affect the entire country at the same time. The earlier blackouts were scheduled by local electric distributors during the day on a rotating basis. “We have decided to coordinate these events at night to cause the least disruption,” the government said.

The Ministry of the Interior said the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew previously ordered for the Wednesday night blackout will also apply next week. “This is being done to assure maximum security during the power rationing period,” said Interior Minister Mónica Palencia.

She added that an additional 46,000 police personnel will be activated for curfew duty. “We will concentrate on the six provinces that are under emergency declaration, since they suffer the highest crimes rates,” she said. Those provinces are Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, Orellana, Santa Helena and El Oro. The canton of Camilo Ponce Enríquez, in Azuay Province, is also covered by the declaration.

Following the announcement, several energy experts criticized the government’s handling of the crisis. “I predicted last weekend this would happen,” said José Alvear, a Quito electrical engineer, referring to a Sunday interview in Ecuavisa. “The government’s claim that Wednesday night’s blackout was for maintenance purposes is mostly bogus. You don’t need to shut down the entire system to perform work on a few transformers. We knew this was to preserve water levels at the reservoirs. The government needs to be honest with people.”

Alvear said that political interests are probably driving the decisions. “Let’s not forget, there’s an election in a few months,” he said. “Even so, I don’t understand why you would conceal the truth from the citizens since everyone knows the situation.”

Professor of electrical engineering at Catholic University-Cuenca Pablo Arias defends the government’s original claim that maintenance work requires blackout periods. “It is true this work should have started much earlier, but the maintenance required is urgent and extensive and some of it requires systemwide stoppage.”

Arias says much of the work is to installations related to the Paute-Mazar hydroelectric complex. “Major upgrades and repairs must be made as soon as possible to four substations located in Azuay Province and the south of the country.”

In addition, Arias says, work is required on small substations and feeder units that support the entire power grid.

Both Arias and Alvear say they expect power blackouts to be extended beyond next week.