Starting this Friday, October 27th, after thirteen years, Ecuadorians will once again go through electricity rationalization. There have been no power outages in the country since the beginning of 2010, when the government last decided on power outages due to lack of electricity.

More than a decade later, it is again the cause of new power outages. Minister Fernando Santos Alvite announced this Thursday, October 26, that the cuts will take place across the country from 07:00 to 18:00, four hours a day for the Sierra and Oriente regions and three hours a day for the coast.

The Minister of Energy, Fernando Santos, announced the rationalization of energy of 4 hours a day in Sierra and Oriente; and 3 hours on the coast

It was in November 2009 when Ecuador started an energy rationalization program due to the drought that hit the southern part of the country, where the largest hydroelectric plant was located, which at the time met 35% of local demand.

President Rafael Correa announced a power cut that began on November 5 and ended on February 12, 2010, although it was offered that the blackouts would only last until December.

The government was forced to extend the measure due to the drought that hit the country’s main reservoir and repairs to thermal power plants.

Sixt’s time, the most memorable blackouts

However, Ecuadorians remember the rationing of three decades ago, between 1992 and 1993, the most.

The announcement of new blackouts in Ecuador brings back memories of the energy crisis that country experienced thirty years ago when Ecuadorians had to move their clocks forward one hour. It happened during the government of Sixto Durán-Ballén and is therefore known as Sixto’s or Sistine Clock.

The state of emergency also occurred due to the lack of rain in the areas where the main hydroelectric dams are located: the flow of the Paute dam recorded a level of almost half an average cubic meter per second. And without electricity to serve homes, an executive order was issued to move the official time on November 28, 1992. The measure lasted until February 5, 1993.

Sixt’s Time: Fearing power outages, Ecuador recalls the energy crisis of thirty years ago

By advancing the clock by sixty minutes, an effort was made to reduce energy consumption by utilizing sunlight. It was the first and last time that something like this happened in Ecuador.

These two cycles also had their economic losses. Miguel Ángel González, president of the Ecuadorian Business Committee (CEE), told this newspaper that estimates show that repeated blackouts that occurred in the 1990s cost the country $1.8 billion; while the blackouts that occurred in 2009 would have cost the country $1.5 billion.