Government spokesperson José Julio Neira reversed the directive late October 14, attributing the seven-day order to an error by a Ministry of Environment and Energy official, whom he announced had been immediately dismissed. The corrected measure allowed high-voltage AV1 consumers to reconnect from October 15, while medium-voltage users maintained disconnection only until October 16, reducing the blackout from seven days to three days for affected facilities.
The Cámara Nacional de Acuacultura immediately challenged even the reduced restrictions, warning that continuous operations for biological organisms in shrimp production cannot tolerate extended power interruptions. The sector reported escalating costs for diesel-based self-generation, delays of up to four hours in reconnections beyond scheduled times, and constraints on diesel supply affecting backup power availability. Industry representatives warned that missing Christmas and year-end export commitments could permanently shift international buyers to competing suppliers.
On October 15, Neira announced he had requested police intervention to forcibly disconnect 20 medium-voltage industrial facilities that remained connected to the grid in violation of government orders, framing their continued consumption as threatening household electricity supply. The threat of coercive enforcement followed the policy reversal by less than 24 hours.
The energy deficit stems from insufficient new generation deployment. Government directives called for adding 1,650 megawatts of firm generation capacity, but only 126.5 megawatts had entered commercial operation by September 16, representing 7.7 percent of the target as the dry season commenced. The national grid operator CENACE had previously identified a requirement for 1,391 additional megawatts to manage the 2026-2027 dry season.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
