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Ecuador starts rationing electricity through next Saturday
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Minister Esteban Albornoz (Photo: Telégrafo)
Ecuador began rationing the use of electricity yesterday due to a drought affecting the output of its hydroelectric plants. The conservation measures have been extended through next Saturday.
According to EFE news service, the drought in the southern Andes of Ecuador has led, in recent weeks, a “drastic reduction” in the flow volume of water entering the reservoir of the hydroelectric plant of Paute. The plant fulfills 35 percent of domestic energy demand, said the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Esteban Albornoz.
On national television, Albornoz said that this situation has forced the government to take “emergency measures aimed at maintaining the stability of the national electricity supply and demand, to avoid a major collapse.”
The minister insisted the country, especially in the area of the Paute plant, is living through the “most severe drought in the last 45 years,” and said that “energy reserve levels have declined dramatically at all hydropower plants.”
Ecuador is not the only country in the region dealing with a severe drought and electricity rationing. Venezuela’s reservoirs are at historically low levels, and the capital city of Caracas began rationing electricity and water in recent weeks.
In addition to the drought, both countries have aging infrastructures that have seen minimal government investment in past decades. This has led to debate over the ultimate cause of electricity and water shortages: drought, aging infrastructure, or poor utilities management.
After Saturday, the government will decide whether to continue with rationing, depending on the situation.
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