CARACAS — Venezuelans are facing daily electricity blackouts across several states, with outages increasingly affecting Caracas, months after the government pledged to open the power sector to private investment and modernize the country’s deteriorating grid.
Residents in parts of central Venezuela reported power cuts lasting several hours a day, while the Caracas neighborhood of Catia experienced an outage of about 15 hours on Thursday, according to local residents cited by the Financial Times. In Aragua state, residents reported daily interruptions of four to five hours.
The outages have prompted demonstrations in several states, including Carabobo, where police were deployed during protests over electricity shortages. Caracas has also experienced repeated blackouts in recent weeks, a significant development for a capital that had generally been prioritized for electricity supplies since the nationwide power crisis of 2019.
The government has attributed the recent deterioration partly to damage caused by two earthquakes in June and to El Niño-related weather conditions. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said the TermoCarabobo gas-fired power plant had been damaged by the earthquakes and had recovered about half of its previous operating capacity.
Rodríguez has also urged households and businesses to reduce electricity consumption as authorities work to stabilize supply.
The government has simultaneously sought to attract private capital to the electricity industry. The National Assembly advanced legislation in June that would allow private and mixed-capital participation in electricity generation and other parts of the sector, potentially ending the long-standing monopoly of state utility Corpoelec.
The reforms follow broader efforts to attract foreign investment into Venezuela’s energy and mining industries. However, suppliers and industry officials have raised concerns over payment guarantees, while workers at Corpoelec have said details of proposed private-sector agreements remain unclear.
Venezuela’s electricity system has suffered years of underinvestment, maintenance problems and declining generation capacity. The country relies heavily on hydropower, making its electricity supply vulnerable to disruptions affecting generation and transmission infrastructure.
On Aug. 2, U.S. diplomat John Barrett visited Venezuela’s main hydropower complex with a U.S. Department of Energy delegation. Barrett said the visit formed part of efforts to establish a modernization plan for the national electricity grid.
The government’s investment plans have yet to produce a visible end to the outages. Electricity officials and authorities have not announced a nationwide timetable for restoring consistently reliable service, while demonstrations over power cuts continued into the latest week.
