Ecuador will suspend electricity service due to the worst drought in 61 years

The following is a machine translation of a release from the General Secretariat for Communications of the Presidency

Faced with the worst drought in the last 61 years and in order to responsibly manage the control of our electrical system, the National Government must make responsible decisions.

Starting this Monday, September 23, the electric service will be suspended throughout the country from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. the following day. This measure will be applied on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the following week. Likewise, the teleworking modality will be implemented in the public sector on Thursday and Friday of this and next week.

The established cut-off time has been chosen with the aim of generating the least possible impact on productive activities and the development of working days.

The Government has implemented a series of actions to address this crisis and reduce its impact, such as the launch of a generating ship, permanent land-based generators, approval of regulations for the import of natural gas, the complementation of energy infrastructure that had been abandoned, and regulations that allow private sector generation.

And we will continue to take the necessary actions to safeguard energy sovereignty in the medium term.

As has been the custom of this government, we will communicate in a timely manner the energy situation as well as the measures we will take in this regard.