Four municipalities in Baja California had no electricity for several hours on Monday after a technical problem forced the temporary suspension of service.
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) said the National Energy Control Center (CENACE) ordered the suspension because of a technical failure in two generators at a Mexicali power plant belonging to the company InterGen. The failures led to a shortage of 20.24 megawatts.
CENACE decided to suspend energy distribution to maintain stability in the national electrical system.
“This measure affected 22% of consumers in the state of Baja California,” said the CFE. “That included consumers in the municipalities of Rosarito, Ensenada, Tijuana and Tecate.”
Some 31,500 electrical customers were affected.
Consumers began reporting losing power at 3:00pm on Monday. At first the blackouts were attributed to high demand and heat.
According to Ensenada Civil Protection head Jaime Nieto de María y Campos, most service was reestablished within two to six hours.
CFE personnel were working with the CENACE to reestablish service.
Tijuana was hit hardest, with as much as 80% of the city losing power. No power for traffic signals caused traffic chaos, and at least three people are reported to have been trapped in elevators.
According to Tijuana fire chief José Jiménez, half of the people affected by the blackout had service again by 6:00pm.
