Venezuela rationing electricity to only 9 hours/day... the excuses even more absurd daily

[GatoGordo]

Government includes Zulia on a 15-hour electric rationing plan
Experts assured that the excuse of Corpoelec that blames the climate for the situation is not valid, given that the reservoirs of the Andean centrals are full, but most of the machines stopped



translated from Spanish

By ANA DÍAZ | [e-mail]
MARCH 23, 2018 01:15 AM

The government incorporated Zulia state into the electric rationing plan that since March 12th has been implemented in Táchira, Mérida, Portuguesa, Trujillo, Barinas and Apure. The suspension of electricity service in that entity, which began to apply from yesterday at 12:00 m, will be 15 hours a day divided into 5 blocks of 3 hours each.

In his Twitter account, Corporación Eléctrica Nacional, Corpoelec, reported that the measure was taken "due to the decrease in water levels in dams in the south west of the country."

The National Electric Corporation decided to extend energy rationing between 9 and 15 hours a day in the states of Táchira, Mérida, Trujillo, Apure, Barinas and Portuguesa from the 19th to the 31st of this month, replacing the original cutting plan of 4 hours daily that would be valid for 15 days until March 27.

"The government insists that the problem is due to the weather, but the reservoirs are full. The real reason is that most of the machines in the hydroelectric power plants are paralyzed as well as those of the thermoelectric generation plants, "said Winston Cabas, president of the Electric Commission of the Venezuelan College of Engineers.

The deepening of the cuts implies that more than 6 million users of the affected entities will be left without power for periods covering 37.5% and 62.5% of each day.

Cabas explained that the region has a shortfall in electricity supply of 2,000 megawatts due to the shutdown of thermal and hydroelectric generation units, as a result of the lack of maintenance, renovation and replacement of obsolete equipment, in addition to corruption.

-snip-

http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/servicios/gobierno-incluye-zulia-plan-racionamiento-electrico-horas_227973

Like clockwork, Maduro and his Chavista jobsworths insist that the reason that one of the worlds most resource rich nations is falling apart at the seams isn't because of their utter incompetence, but due to factors beyond their control. Despite the fact that reservoirs are full, they insist that they are near empty. They insist that saboteurs are monkey wrenching substations, when in reality, their own technicians complain that ZERO maintenance or upgrades to the infrastructure have occurred in 18 years. Less than half of the nations electrical plants are running, and the ones that do run are at about 40%. And what Maduro cannot blame on Uncle Sam or the weather, he blames on "amorous iguanas" who like to fornicate on the transformers.

Let us not forget that the Venezuelan national electric company (Corpoelec) recently defaulted on its loans and cannot get new or replacement equipment without paying cash. Nearly half of its technicians have left the job due to not being paid, and for the last two years, blackouts have been the norm, even during the rainy season.