Massive blackout in Buenos Aires leaves more than half a million without power

A massive blackout affected neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires City (CABA) and the southern suburbs of the capital on Wednesday amid sweltering temperatures.

Several power on Wednesday left some 620,000 users without electricity in Greater Buenos Aires – including the Casa Rosada.

Meanwhile temperatures soared above 35 degrees Celsius, with the famous 'sensación térmica' heat index touching 44°C, with a yellow alert issued for "extreme temperatures."

Electricity firm Edesur, which serves the southern part of Buenos Aires, stated on X that "a failure occurred in a high-voltage line," affecting multiple substations. The blackout followed another massive one recorded in the early hours of Wednesday.

By mid-afternoon, service had been restored to 70 percent of those affected, while around 200,000 customers remained without power, a spokesperson from the Energy Secretariat told the AFP news agency.

At the peak of the outage, some 622,000 users had experienced the cut, said the spokesperson.

The blackout, which even affected the Casa Rosada presidential palace, hit more than a dozen neighbourhoods in the city's centre and south. Disruption was observed at dozens of intersections as traffic lights failed and traffic jams developed. Subte metro services were suspended, with some travellers left in carriages between tunnels.

A large part of the Barracas neighbourhood, in the south of the city, spent hours without electricity amid the sweltering heat. People stepped outside to cool off or sought shade on the street.

Some shopkeepers set up petrol-powered generators at the entrances to their businesses. Petrol stations saw queues of people lining up with jerrycans to fill up.

Gilda Ávila, an employee at a laundrette in Barracas, lamented that she couldn't use the washing machines.

"I have a ton of clothes to deliver. And in this heat, it's unbearable. Prices keep rising, and nothing gets better," said the 39-year-old woman.

In 2024, electricity rates in Buenos Aires rose by 268 percent while inflation reached 117.8 percent, according to a report from the University of Buenos Aires and the scientific institute CONICET – the impact of the removal of large subsidies for public utilities.

"This morning, we had to throw away a lot of merchandise," 35-year-old butcher Eduardo Marecos. "We pay nearly a million [pesos a month] for electricity, so going through this is awful."

– TIMES/AFP