In the Dark: How Rolling Blackouts Changed Life in Ecuador | Drought News

As Ecuador’s historic drought continues, power outages could last until April, says energy consultant Jorge Luis Hidalgo.

For decades, experts have urged authorities to boost Ecuador’s energy supply by expanding solar and wind energy capacity and strengthening thermoelectric plants.

But Hidalgo said electricity and fossil fuel subsidies have left energy prices in Ecuador among the lowest in the region, with residents and businesses paying only about $0.10 per kilowatt houraccording to government estimates.

That lack of revenue has in turn discouraged the private sector from investing in alternative energy, Hidalgo said.

“As long as Ecuador continues to give away energy, this situation will continue,” he said.

As the population grows, demand for energy has exceeded supply over the years, Hidalgo added. It is a problem that President Noboa himself has acknowledged.

In October, he posted a video on social media explaining that Ecuador is currently a energy shortage that fluctuates between 1,000 and 1,400 megawatts.

This means that Ecuador’s electricity needs exceeded production capacity by more than a tenth. From 2022, the country could only produce approximately 8,864 megawatts in total.

The shortage has created a political crisis for Noboa, which has faced protests in the streets due to government-imposed power cuts.

These demonstrations come at a delicate time for Noboa. He will be re-elected in 2025, as his current mandate is to complete the remainder of his predecessor’s term.

Protesters even marched to the presidential palace in Quito in November and chanted, “There is no light. There is no education. And you have the guts to seek re-election?”

In December, Noboa pledged to end government blackouts. “We will live a normal life again,” he promised.

In November, Noboa announced that his government had spent $700 million on maintaining Ecuador’s aging thermoelectric power plants, intended to support Ecuador’s hydroelectric system during dry spells.

Currently, hydroelectric dams are responsible for generating about 70 percent of Ecuador’s energy.

Noboa also reached an agreement with Colombia to continue buying energy from the neighboring country. Earlier this year, Colombia had that too reduce electricity exports to Ecuador because of its own drought issues.

The Ecuadorian government has also brought in a floating thermoelectric power plant from Turkiye producing 100 megawatts, and 23 power generators producing a total of 80 megawatts.

In addition, Noboa has abolished an energy subsidy for mining companies.

“The mining companies in Ecuador use more energy than a hospital needs to function. And yet their energy rate is subsidized by the state,” says Noboa wrote on social media in October. “The subsidies should reach those who need them most.”

But for the families hardest hit by the power outages, like Samueza’s, the changes may come too late.

Since he was fired, his wife has become the family breadwinner and works as a treasurer at a logistics company. Samueza, meanwhile, tries his hand at driving for a taxi app, which has so far paid him less than a minimum wage.

With a tighter household budget, Samueza says the holidays will likely come and go without much fuss.

But he is optimistic that by the new year the power outages will have stopped and the economy will have recovered enough that he might be able to find a job.

Still, he feels frustrated with the government because of his current situation.

“There should be no power outages,” Samueza said. “A government must be prepared for these types of cases, especially because we already experienced the same thing in April and May. The fact that they have done nothing to adapt speaks poorly of the government.”