The announcement of a special and temporary energy rationalization in Ecuador has caused concern in the business sector, which attributes this situation to a “lack of foresight on the part of the authorities”.

The Minister of Energy and Mining, Fernando Santos Alvite, reported this Thursday, October 26, that starting Friday the 27th, special and temporary cuts will be made, in order to protect the system and avoid an electrical collapse.

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

However, the measure provoked a reaction from the manufacturing sectors. The Chamber of Commerce of Quito (CCQ) stated that “unfortunately, the lack of foresight of the authorities is seriously affecting the commercial sector in its key season.”

For his part, the executive president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), José Antonio Camposano, indicated that since it is a sector in which the production chain does not stop, they describe the measure as “catastrophic”.

“In the specific case of the shrimp sector, it is a chain that does not have working hours, we work on a permanent, rotating schedule, our chain does not stop and therefore the measure, the situation that is experienced, we describe as catastrophic,” He said.

Camposano expressed his regret that it was not taken into account that the state that has to work did not foresee all the effects, because there can be dozens of justifications, among them nature and other situations, but this scenario has already been recorded, because it was important to have prevention plans.

The minister indicated that the cuts will take place between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and each power company or distribution company will make cuts in a way that will least complicate the citizens. The cuts will be temporary until the new generation comes in and will last about 4 hours a day in the Sierra and Eastern region and 3 hours a day on the coast.

Santos Alvite clarified that due to the uncertain conditions, the cuts will be at night and early in the morning.

Power outages in Ecuador: This is what is known about energy rationalization

However, according to the CCQ, the impact will be greater on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and significant losses are estimated.

They also stated that it can be estimated that every hour the commercial sector sells 18 million dollars nationwide and that the last quarter of the year represents 30% of the total sales of the commercial sector. “These actions discourage investment and have a negative effect on job creation,” the CCQ said.

In the shrimp sector, they also show that losses are high throughout the value chain.