Daily coverage from across the country, written for the expat community
Results for “heat”Clear
Primicias reports INAMHI warned that at least 24 Ecuadorian cities face very high UV radiation on June 1. The strongest sun window is from 10:00 to 15:00, with Azuay and Loja among provinces listed in the very high category.
El Universo reports that Quito has an INAMHI weather warning through 17:00 on Friday, May 29, with medium temperatures of 22-24 C and high levels of 25-27 C expected in parts of the metro district.
El Comercio reports that Quito's seven main monitored crime indicators fell 25% between January 1 and May 9 compared with 2025. Robbery against people remains the most common issue, and neighborhood leaders still warn about underreporting and reactive policing.
The May 6 placement of $1 billion in bonds drew $7 billion in demand from 200 international investors. Country risk is at its lowest since 2014. Here's what it means for the economy.
Ecuador is burning through diesel at a 23% faster rate to keep the lights on. Diesel prices jumped from .11 to .45 per gallon. And the government just failed — for the second time — to secure emergency thermal generation contracts.
Coastal residents report electricity bills climbing from $80 to $155, $126 to $400, and $130 to $280 in a single cycle. President Noboa announced a subsidy covering up to 180 kWh per household in heat-affected zones, worth roughly $20 per bill, appearing on May statements.
Peak demand on the Ecuadorian electrical grid hit 5,333 MW on April 10 — roughly 20% above normal, and enough to trigger rolling blackouts across Guayaquil, Daule, and Samborondón. The Ministry of Environment and Energy suspended all scheduled grid maintenance on April 14 to free up capacity. Here's what's happening and what to expect.
Environment and Energy Minister Inés Manzano announced leadership changes at both CNEL (the national distribution utility) and CENACE (the grid operator) this week after widespread blackouts and what she called 'slow and inefficient' responses. Juan Carlos Blum — a mechanical engineer with a background in multilateral energy work — is the new CNEL general manager.
New numbers from Colombia's DIAN show Colombian exports to Ecuador fell 27% in January–February 2026 as Ecuador's security-tariff regime ramped up. Between February and March, the fall steepened to 57%. Ecuador's tariff escalates again on May 1 — from 50% to 100%. Here's the picture and what it means for consumer prices.
Ecuador's Minister of Environment and Energy, Inés Manzano, confirmed scheduled power interruptions in Guayas province on two additional Sundays, running from 5:00 AM to 8:00 AM, for maintenance work at the Dos Cerritos substation. Affected areas include Guayaquil, Samborondón, Santa Lucía, Pedro Carbo, and Daule.
In the Ietel neighborhood of north Guayaquil, residents have been without electricity for more than 15 hours since Sunday afternoon. Some families have resorted to sleeping inside their cars with the AC running. The heat wave turned a utility failure into a survival problem.
Power outages rippled through neighborhoods across Guayaquil, Daule, and Samborondón on April 12, with CNEL blaming transformer overloads from extreme AC demand during the heat wave. Residents are reporting four-hour outages or longer.
