Since temperatures began rising at the end of May, Baja California Sur has experienced a new wave of power outages, continuing the energy crisis that has affected the state since 2018.
This time, the Center for Renewable Energy and Environmental Quality (CERCA) has implemented a strategy in collaboration with residents that has documented 71 power outages from May 31 to the present.
CERCA Director Jaqueline Valenzuela Meza explained that in previous years the organization relied on the National Center for Renewable Energy (CENER) to obtain official information about service interruptions and their causes.
However, because those official reports are no longer available and there is no reliable way to determine the exact causes of the outages, CERCA launched a reporting system that allows residents to notify the organization whenever a blackout occurs.
“We have recorded a much higher number than last year. We are currently reporting 71 incidents that residents have submitted directly through our outage tracker, which is continuously available on CERCA’s website,” Jaqueline Valenzuela said.
“Power interruptions do not occur only during the summer. We have also noticed outages during other seasons, although they are not as frequent as in the summer and not as numerous as they are now,” she added.
On social media, residents have expressed frustration and anger. Dozens of neighborhoods have been affected, but what concerns many people most is that outages now last much longer than in previous years.
Residents explain that, since 2018, they have become accustomed to scheduled power rationing, during which authorities intentionally cut electricity for 15 to 20 minutes to prevent electricity demand from exceeding available generation.
However, during the current season, outages have become significantly longer. In some cases, such as in the Los Olivos neighborhood of La Paz, electricity has been unavailable for as long as five hours.
The CERCA director emphasized that, in addition to high temperatures, another pattern they have observed is that outages frequently occur on cloudy days.
This year, the organization has also detected that interruptions have been occurring more frequently over shorter periods. Although CERCA has documented 71 incidents, the organization believes the actual number is likely much higher.
“We can clearly see that, unlike previous years when reports were more spread out, we have received around 70 outage reports from residents within only four weeks. Those are simply the incidents we have managed to record. Many others have likely gone unreported,” she stated.
Through social media, residents continue to express widespread dissatisfaction and question whether Baja California Sur is destined to continue living under these conditions, arguing that the Mexican government has yet to resolve the state’s electricity generation problems.
Special Power Generators Sent to the State
During his weekly press conference, Governor Víctor Castro Cosío announced that the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will send special generators to increase electricity production in Baja California Sur.
“The Federal Electricity Commission has just reinforced our generating capacity. They will add more than 100 megawatts during this period. Yesterday I met with the entire CFE team, from the superintendent based in Mexicali to the local officials, and it was a very productive meeting,” he said.
The governor explained that the state’s generation capacity will increase by 116 megawatts (MW) and that the new equipment will be installed in the municipalities of La Paz and Los Cabos.
CERCA Director Jaqueline Valenzuela has previously explained that Baja California Sur has an installed generation capacity of approximately 1,100 MW, while electricity demand from residents and productive sectors is around 750 MW. However, only about 65% of the installed capacity is currently operational.
With only 650 MW available out of the state’s 1,100 MW capacity, Baja California Sur faces a significant electricity deficit relative to the needs of its five municipalities.
Governor Castro Cosío argued that the additional 116 MW will increase available generation to more than 800 MW, insisting that this represents positive news for the state.
He also called on the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and the relevant authorities to provide advance notice of planned power outages.
“The Federal Electricity Commission, as the responsible authority, must inform the public. If service is going to be suspended, people should be able to prepare—whether the interruption will last an hour, half an hour, or 15 minutes—whether because a transformer failed, there were supply problems, or a generation crisis required adjustments to the electrical system to avoid affecting even more people,” he concluded.
Source: zetatijuana
