Ecuador Extends Drought-induced Power Cuts To 14 Hours a Day

Starting Friday, power outages in Ecuador will increase from eight to fourteen hours per day due to the worst drought the country has experienced in sixty years, as announced by the Ministry of Energy.

“We have made the difficult yet responsible decision to revise the rationing plan and extend power cuts from eight to fourteen hours daily,” said Inés Manzano in a video shared on social media. She indicated that the program would be reassessed on Sunday.

“We are confronting an evolving and unprecedented crisis that requires us to adapt to changing circumstances,” the minister explained, underscoring that the decision was necessitated by the challenging climatic conditions.

The prolonged drought affecting this nation of 17 million people has drastically reduced the reservoirs of hydroelectric plants, which generate 70% of the national energy supply, bringing them to historically low levels over the past three months, according to reports.