Riviera Maya, Q.R. — More than 1.3 million homes and businesses were left without power Wednesday after a sudden CFE blackout. The widespread power outage occurred around 8:30 a.m., affecting residents in Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo.
More than half of the company’s registered users in the region were affected by the cut in electricity that occurred during high-voltage line maintenance. In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) reported the cuts in power began at 8:32 a.m. until 8:40 a.m.
One worker who was part of the team performing maintenance on six of the company’s high-voltage lines was electrocuted. He was taken to hospital with undisclosed injuries. In their statement, CFE said the man was in stable condition.
They reported that 62 percent of the region was affected by the accident that was felt across three states. “The CFE carried out restoration maneuvers in full coordination with the National Center for Energy Control (CENACE) and has already restored the electricity supply to the affected users,” they said in the afternoon.
“The blackout was due to the suspension of the electrical service due to the outage of the 400 kV transmission lines which affected the supply of electrical energy to state users,” they added.
The lack of electricity meant transit police had to replace traffic lights. All major cities had transit elements out at major intersections directing cars manually.
In Cancun, the Municipal Traffic Directorate reported that officers were deployed in high traffic areas to speed up mobility and avoid vehicular accidents. By 11:00 a.m., power was fully restored around Quintana Roo.
