On March 5, 2025, a power outage in Buenos Aires affected over 600,000 customers, disrupting subway services and causing traffic chaos during a heat wave. The outage, caused by a high-voltage power line failure, highlights ongoing issues with Argentina’s energy infrastructure and investment shortages.
On March 5, 2025, Buenos Aires experienced a significant power outage that left over 600,000 customers without electricity. This incident followed another outage just hours earlier, severely testing the city’s electric grid amid a heat wave that increased electricity demand. The blackout, caused by the failure of a high-voltage power line at 12:40 p.m., resulted in stranding subway passengers and disrupting traffic flow due to inoperative stoplights.
The power supply disruption affected 622,000 customers, causing multiple substations to go offline. Technicians from Edesur, the electricity provider for parts of Buenos Aires, were working diligently to restore services. The heat index reached as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit), exacerbating the situation.
As a consequence of the outage, municipal authorities suspended subway services across all lines and reported that 50 stoplights were rendered inoperative. This led to significant traffic congestion in central and southern Buenos Aires, prompting the deployment of hundreds of traffic police officers to manage the chaos. By the afternoon, service had resumed on all but two train lines.
This event highlights the commonality of blackouts in Argentina, particularly during peak demand periods associated with summertime heat. Years of frozen electricity prices under prior administrations have impeded investment in the energy sector, which has been exacerbated by soaring utility rates under the current libertarian leadership of President Javier Milei. He has sought foreign investment to revamp the country’s energy infrastructure.
The recent power outage in Buenos Aires illustrates the vulnerabilities of the city’s electric grid, especially during extreme heat that elevates electricity demand. With over 600,000 customers affected, the incident disrupted daily life, causing public transport halts and traffic chaos. The historical lack of investment in the energy sector, coupled with current economic policies, poses ongoing challenges for Argentina’s electricity reliability and infrastructure development.
Original Source: apnews.com
