BEL Implements Load Shedding

Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) is preparing to address the impacts of a supply shortage by implementing load shedding across the country. In a statement, BEL stated that the measure will see rotating power cuts as the company works to balance energy demand with limited available supply.

“The current available in-country capacity is insufficient to meet the power requirements (demand) of our customers. BEL is, therefore, preparing to address the impacts of the resulting supply shortage,” it said.

This comes after a major power outage on Friday that left much of the country without electricity. Belmopan, parts of San Ignacio, Ladyville, and sections of the rural Belize District were the only areas that remained with power throughout the blackout.

The outage was triggered when BEL lost supply from Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) in Mexico. CFE confirmed in a statement that “an electrical failure occurred that affected 2,262,000 users in the states of Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo.” The failure caused nine power plants in the southeast to shut down.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also said on X that “a failure in an electricity transmission line in the southeast caused a blackout” and later confirmed that power was restored to Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo.

BEL urges Belizeans to be mindful of electricity use as it works to manage the shortage.

Last year, a series of loadshedding was also carried out to temporarily reduce electricity consumption across the country to ensure the stability and continuous operation of the national electricity grid.