Sun Sep 15 14:51:00 UTC 2024: ## Ecuador to Implement Nationwide Blackout for Maintenance
**QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters)** – Ecuador will experience a nationwide blackout overnight on Wednesday, April 17, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Thursday, the government announced on Sunday. The blackout is necessary for preventative maintenance on the National Transmission System and power distribution network.
The maintenance project will cost an estimated $2.19 million, with $1.19 million allocated to transmission work and $1 million for distribution maintenance.
The power outage comes at a time when Ecuador is facing a severe drought, impacting its hydroelectric dams which are the primary source of electricity for the country.
President Daniel Noboa’s administration has chosen this specific timeframe, stating that it was done with a sense of responsibility to minimize disruption to daily life and productivity.
This is not the first time Noboa’s administration has implemented power cuts. In June 2023, a nationwide outage was blamed on faulty transmission lines and insufficient maintenance.
First Piper 