Power Outage Leaves 1.2 Million Without Electricity in Buenos Aires

A massive power outage struck Buenos Aires on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, leaving 1.2 million residents without electricity.

According to local media, the Argentine government attributed the blackout to Edesur, a subsidiary of Enel responsible for energy distribution in the country, while suspicions of sabotage have emerged.

The Argentine newspaper Clarín reported that over 620,000 users were affected, impacting more than 1.2 million people across Buenos Aires and its metropolitan areas.

The blackout occurred during extreme heat conditions, with a thermal sensation reaching 44°C. Between 5:23 a.m. and 1:10 p.m., four high-voltage lines of 220 kilovolts disconnected from the system six times.

An energy expert interviewed by Clarín, who remained anonymous, raised concerns about the unusual nature of the incident. “It’s not normal for two parallel lines to fail simultaneously; one should act as a backup for the other.

Blackouts and Infrastructure Challenges

Protections should activate automatically—if demand drops by 1,000 megawatts, generation is reduced by 1,000 megawatts. This could indicate sabotage or an issue with protections not working due to inadequate investment,” they stated.

Edesur responded on X (formerly Twitter), confirming that power had been restored and announcing an investigation into the outage’s cause. The company also increased technical teams to address consumer needs amid forecasts of continued high temperatures on March 6 and March 7.

The blackout highlights Argentina’s long-standing energy infrastructure issues. For over two decades, insufficient investment has plagued the sector due to tariff freezes that led to underfunding and equipment deterioration.

To address these challenges, President Javier Milei’s government implemented tariff increases in the first half of 2024. This move was aimed at compensating for years of neglect.

Additionally, maintenance was mandated for thermal machinery—some of which are between 50 and 60 years old and nearing obsolescence—before summer began.

As summer temperatures rise, energy demand grows, exposing the sector’s inability to meet consumption needs and risking further crises. Consumers face increasingly expensive bills while enduring unreliable service, potentially undermining public support for Milei’s administration during this critical period.