Mexican breakdowns could mean Belize blackouts

Having just recovered from a nationwide blackout over the weekend, Belize Electricity Limited is today warning consumers that an energy shortage in Mexico may mean big trouble for Belize. A company press release reports that due to problems at two substations in Mexico, that country’s government owned Comision Federal de Electricidad has been forced to ration electricity. The Yucatan peninsula is losing thirty megawatts of capacity and the share that Belize buys from C.F.E. is being cut from twenty-five to twenty megawatts. With the hydro facility at Mollejon producing very little during the dry season and the twenty-two megawatt gas turbine generator still under construction at mile eight, B.E.L. will have to rely on its Belize City diesel plants, along with some emergency rentals. Industrial customers with backup generators have already been asked to use them and B.E.L. is monitoring the situation closely, with a contingency plan for rotating outages ready for implementation in case the Mexican situation is not rectified by tonight.