Mexico was hit by hours of blackouts Tuesday night due to high temperatures and temporary drops in power generation.
The government’s National Center for Energy Monitoring said the blackouts lasted a total of about five hours, although it was probably less for individual customers because it was a rolling blackout spread across the country.
The center said the largest power outage affected about 5% of customers and lasted about four hours.
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The largest blackout was caused in part by a surge in power demand in the early afternoon, when many Mexicans come home and turn on televisions, fans and air conditioners.
A Mexican flag flies in front of the National Palace, the president’s office, in Mexico City’s main square, the Zócalo, at dawn on April 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Mexico has broken several high temperature records this year, with about a third of the country expected to reach 113 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday. Greater Mexico City, where about a sixth of the population lives, hit a high of 92 degrees on Tuesday.
Mexico City is located in a high mountain valley and usually cools down at night, but that hasn’t happened as much this year.
Power generation also unexpectedly fell due to other reasons, including lower output from hydroelectric dams, which have been affected by drought, and clouds affecting solar power.
The blackouts were an embarrassment for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has prioritized increasing the role of the state electricity company, known as CFE, and reducing opportunities for private power generators.
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Many of the state plants that López Obrador has prioritized are dirtier because they burn fuel produced in state refineries. The president has tried to limit private, cleaner energy generation using natural gas or renewable energy.
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