Ecuador is in the dark. Not only because the blackouts of more than seven hours continue this Wednesday throughout the country, despite the presidential announcement that they would be suspended, but also because the severity of the crisis affecting the energy sector and who is responsible is unknown. The clues are given by the Government through its decisions. For example, the latest decree that Daniel Noboa has signed, in which he will paralyze the country for two days. On Thursday and Friday, the work and school day has been suspended in the public and private sectors, to guarantee “rest and leisure,” the document states.
But a few hours later they learned the underlying reason: the critical conditions of the two most important reservoirs that provide water to the hydroelectric plants. “They register an operational storage level of 0% in Mazar, and 4% in Paute,” says the Presidency statement. The situation has reached historical records, says Cenace, the electricity operator, and warned that the energy deficit facing the country is up to 27 gigawatts per day.
The Government assures that from the preliminary investigation carried out by the new Minister of Energy in charge, Roberto Luque, the crisis is not only related to environmental circumstances due to the lack of rain that has caused the extension of the drought period, but to acts of corruption. and negligence by high-level Energy Ministry officials, including former minister Andrea Arrobo. “They intentionally hid crucial information for the functioning of the national energy system.” In addition, “they suppressed and undid warnings and alerts to the Energy Crisis Committee, with the purpose of ensuring that this serious situation is not known so that timely decisions can be made,” the statement explains.
The first time that the president referred to the issue was on April 16 at an event in which he was going to hand out scholarships to students, almost a week after the surprise power outages began, but which worsened on Monday when the blackouts They spread throughout the country, for up to more than six hours. Some towns like Naranjal endured up to 20 hours without electricity, which brought people to the streets to protest. Faced with the new crisis, Noboa responded that it would be “sabotage” to prevent winning the popular consultation that he has called and that will be voted on Sunday. As a measure, he asked the Minister of Energy to resign, he offered to subsidize 50% of the April electricity payroll and initiate an investigation for sabotage, of which he already has results. According to the Government, he has presented to the Prosecutor's Office “a complaint for paralysis of the public service against 22 saboteurs who sought to harm all Ecuadorians, affecting their development and productivity.”
Not only “saboteurs” would be behind the energy crisis, according to the presidential statement, it also refers to defending citizens from “pretensions of organized crime”, without explaining the links between the two. The blackouts in Ecuador began in October 2023 and the current Government had declared the end of electricity cuts in February.
The Executive's statement does not explain how much longer the blackouts will continue, but what it does warn is that there will be rationing on the two days of mandatory rest that the president has decreed, because “maintenance will be carried out on the power plants, which will imply the energy rationing at certain immutable times.” It is not yet known how many hours the country will remain in the dark.
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