CARACAS, Aug. 28 — Blackouts, voltage swings and rolling rationing have become part of daily life in Venezuela, as U.S. sanctions, natural disasters and a battered National Electric System (SEN) squeeze the country’s power supply.
“At my house it goes out every day,” said Janis Monasterios, a graphic designer in Maracay, the capital of central Aragua state. “Yesterday, after I got back from work, the power was out from seven in the evening until midnight.”
For Monasterios, the biggest problem is the uncertainty, not knowing when the electricity will go out or come back. “There is no schedule whatsoever, at least not in residential areas,” she said. The situation makes it impossible to “plan or get organized.”
Her experience is echoed by residents across Venezuela.
In a nationwide address on the energy crisis on Monday, Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez stressed the importance of forging international partnerships to strengthen the SEN and meet the energy needs driven by changing weather and the country’s economic growth.
Back in March, Rodriguez launched a national energy-saving plan and other measures in response to the high temperatures expected during the seasonal passage of the sun through the zenith.
U.S. sanctions had hindered efforts to recover the electrical system, leading to a deterioration in service, Rodriguez said at the time.
The Ministry of Electric Energy has launched a campaign called “Conserve Energy, Turn on Life” that encourages energy-saving measures through advertisements, social media and door-to-door outreach.
For residents, however, the power supply remains unpredictable.
The electricity “can go out for three to six hours at any time of the day,” Alba Jimenez, a resident of Punto Fijo, a city in northwestern Falcon state, told Xinhua.
“It’s a problem, especially for those who work remotely and need to be connected during set times,” Jimenez said.
In La Ascencion, a community in western Yaracuy state, librarian Siomer Hidalgo said her area mainly experienced voltage fluctuations, unlike other communities that regularly go “five to seven hours without electricity.”
The situation is more difficult in Aragua’s Jose Felix Ribas municipality, where there are constant blackouts, according to resident Luz Navas.
“It started with five hours a day. Now we’re at a stage where it’s six or seven hours,” she said amid a power outage.
A load-shedding schedule, or planned timetable for rotating blackouts across a region, is distributed locally via instant messaging, said Navas, but it is often not followed. Text-message alerts sometimes arrive only after the electricity has already gone out.
Amarilis Palacios, a resident of Tacarigua in Miranda state, said power outages were also frequent in her area, particularly on weekends.
Further east, in the northeastern state of Nueva Esparta, energy rationing can last up to three hours a day, according to audiovisual producer Jose Perez.
Residents have bought rechargeable fans and uninterruptible power supply systems “for the laptop and router” to deal with the precarious electricity, Perez added.
“There is no set schedule here. Yesterday, for example, the power went out three times for 40-minute intervals,” he said. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
