A power transmission line failure on Wednesday resulted in an unexpected blackout across Ecuador, the government said. This occurred just days after the government announced planned power outages due to production issues.
Ecuador’s Minister of Energy, Roberto Luque, reported that the National Electricity Operator identified a transmission line failure, causing a “cascade disconnection” that left the entire country without power.
Luque stated that efforts are underway to resolve the issue and restore the faulty power lines as quickly as possible.
The outage lasted for 20 minutes in some areas, but media outlets and social media users reported that the problem persisted in most cities.
Emilia Cevallos, a waitress at a restaurant north of Quito, expressed surprise at the blackout.
“Initially, we thought it was only affecting our area, but upon leaving, we noticed that while some stores had generators, the majority were without power,” she explained. “Traffic lights were also out of service.”
The Quito municipality announced on X that traffic agents were deployed to manage traffic flow. Quito Metro, the city’s subway operator, suspended services due to the electrical failure.
Since last year, Ecuador has faced an electricity generation crisis, leading to power rationing across the country. In April, the government implemented electricity rationing in major cities due to a drought linked to the El Niño weather pattern, which depleted reservoirs and reduced output at hydroelectric plants that generate about 75% of the nation’s power.