Description

Failures at three Venezuelan power plants this week caused blackouts throughout the country and signaled the possible return of a severe electricity crisis, a local newspaper reported Thursday.

The plants' diminished output has robbed Venezuela's increasingly overburdened power grid of 1,200 megawatts, according to El Nacional. The newspaper also reported that rolling blackouts enacted by the government have stirred confusion by not adhering to a released schedule.

According to El Nacional, the Termozulia I, Josefa Joaquina Sanchez and Planta Centro plants have experienced interruptions in operations.

Government officials said Wednesday that service disruptions at Termozulia I, in the border state of Zulia, were the result of a bombed gas line in neighboring Colombia.

Venezuelans are only months removed from a severe electricity shortage that spanned from late 2009 through mid-2010. A drought stifled power generation in Venezuela's hydro dams which account for most of country's electricity.

Source: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201103311244dowjonesdjonline000384&title=failures-at-venezuelan-power-plants-cause-outages-report