Power Back on in Ecuador after Massive Outage Blamed on Transmission Failure

A security guard closes the door of Recreo metro station after a blackout in Quito June 19, 2024. (Photo by Galo Paguay / AFP)

Power was nearly fully restored in Ecuador on Wednesday afternoon, after a nationwide electricity outage struck residential users, hospitals as well as the capital's subway system, a failure officials blamed on faulty transmission lines.
Public Works Minister Roberto Luque said in a post on X that 95% of service had been restored by late Wednesday afternoon, Reuters said.
The outage left the nation of some 18 million in the dark, as the minister also singled out insufficient maintenance as a contributing factor.
"What happened today is just more proof of the energy crisis we're dealing with," he said, ticking off recent problems caused by insufficient power generation that has led to unscheduled service cuts.
Luque, who also serves as acting energy minister, stressed that Wednesday's outage was due to a lack of investment in transmission that could have been avoided.
Luque had earlier in the day pinned the blame on a transmission line failure that caused "a cascade disconnection."
In April, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa declared an energy emergency and announced planned electricity cuts.
Wednesday's outage caused dangerous driving conditions for scores of motorists, as traffic lights ceased working. Operations of Quito's subway were also interrupted for several hours.