MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Another major blackout leaves western Venezuela ‘totally affected’

Electricity Minister Ali Rodriguez anticipates rationing if consumption isn’t reduced

Venezuela restored early Tuesday 90% of power knocked out by a blackout Monday that hit 10 states in the western part of the country. This is the second major power failure in just over a month.

Two separate transmission failures took about 3,000 megawatts of capacity offline, and the states of Tachira, Merida, Trujillo and Barinas were “totally” affected by the blackout, Igor Gavidia, head of power transmission at the Electricity Ministry, said Monday on state television.

“We’re working to bring stability to the system,” Gavidia said. “Everything is practically resolved.”

A helicopter was dispatched to collect more information on the cause of the blackout that also affected the states of oil producing Zulia, Yaracuy, Portuguesa, Cojedes and Lara, Gavidia said.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency said last month that increasing blackouts in Venezuela may cause oil output to decline. A blackout on April 7 struck the capital of Caracas and 15 states.

However Venezuela’s largest refining centre, the Paraguana complex in Falcon state, was not affected by the blackout today, said an official for state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

Over the weekend the state-run power company Corpoelec announced a series of scheduled power outages around the capital city of Caracas for system maintenance and installation of new equipment, the company said on its website.

The outages, which are scheduled for different parts of the city at different times, will continue at least until Wednesday.

Venezuela’s power grid has become a topic of concern after Monday’s major failure and a previous blackout, early last month, when the fall of a high-capacity power line cut nearly two-thirds of Venezuela's power supplies.

Officials, including Electricity Minister Ali Rodriguez, have warned that rationing measures could be implemented if consumption isn't reduced.

Venezuela faced a severe power crisis early last year due to a drought that affected production at the El Guri dam, the source of nearly 70% of Venezuela's power supply.

Critics say the sector has been plagued by insufficient investment and problems have been exacerbated since the industry's wholesale nationalization in 2007.