No Power Cuts During This Sunday Referendum, Noboa Says

April 20, 2024 Hour: 1:53 pm

The government of Ecuador ratified on Saturday that there will be no power cuts scheduled for Sunday during the referendum votes after the president of that country Daniel Noboa declared a new state of exception due to the energy crisis.

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On the other hand the Ministry of Energy confirmed that the cuts have been suspended thanks to the fact that the last rains presented in the country have allowed the improvement of the flows of the rivers that feed important hydroelectric plants, which have been affected by severe drought associated with phenomeno El Niño.

In Quito, the capital, electricity cuts this Saturday have added between 7 and 7.5 hours depending on areas and neighborhoods, in Guayaquil between 3 and 7 hours, in provinces such as Imbabura and Carchi (north Andean) cuts have been between 8 and 9 hours, while in the Andean south between 2 and 8 hours.

Ecuador facing power cuts of up to 13 hours amid electricity crisis sparked by a drought.

“Yesterday, they cut me off from eight to eleven (in the morning)… Today with eight hours (of blackouts) it is going to be worse,” says computer rental firm owner in Quito… pic.twitter.com/pyJ8SlusoY

— AFP News Agency (@AFP)
April 19, 2024

Official sources confirm that the maintenance work carried out in several thermal power plants and the rains recorded in the last hours in areas where the most important hydroelectric plants are located in the country have allowed to shorten the periods in the power outages.

Daniel Noboa ordered “the mobilization and intervention of the National Police and the Armed Forces throughout the national territory, duly coordinated, to ensure the security of critical energy infrastructure facilities to prevent sabotage, terrorist attacks or other threats that may affect their functioning.”

Ecuadorian citizens have expressed to the press during the last hours their discontent with the declaration of “energy holiday” for 18 and 19 April for the public and private sector by the Executive of President Daniel Noboa, and said they depend on working to face the high cost of living.