Rolling blackouts have struck at least 20 neighborhoods across La Paz and Los Cabos this week, leaving parts of Baja California Sur without electricity for up to two hours at a time. The outages began Sunday night and returned Wednesday, May 13, with no official explanation from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
The CFE confirmed that roughly 5% of users in both cities were affected but did not identify a cause. Blackouts on Sunday lasted between 40 minutes and 90 minutes. The second wave on Wednesday plunged some areas into darkness for nearly two hours.
Outages Spread Beyond Los Cabos and La Paz
The problem extends well beyond the peninsula’s two largest population centers. Loreto, Mulegé, and Comondú have also experienced disruptions, with more than 400,000 residents affected statewide. Baja California Sur operates on an isolated electrical grid that is not connected to Mexico’s national power network. The state relies entirely on generating plants concentrated around La Paz.
On Tuesday, May 12, four state legislators issued a formal request demanding the CFE explain the outages. They cited a flood of complaints from constituents across the state. Civil Protection officials said they are monitoring hospitals and other critical facilities to ensure backup systems are functioning.
Grid Already Operating Beyond Capacity
The Center for Renewable Energy and Environmental Quality (CERCA) has warned that the state grid is already running beyond its rated capacity, even though peak summer temperatures have not yet arrived. Summer cooling demand typically climbs through June and July, when daytime highs in La Paz routinely exceed 40°C (104°F). Last summer, outages and voltage drops in La Paz affected approximately 8,000 users on a single June afternoon.
Population growth, particularly in Los Cabos, has placed unprecedented strain on the aging system. The CFE has been conducting preventive maintenance ahead of the summer heat, but no timeline for permanent infrastructure improvements has been announced.
What Residents Should Know
Residents who rely on electric water pumps, medical equipment, or refrigerated medications should prepare backup power options now. Major resorts and hotels in the Los Cabos Tourist Corridor generally operate industrial backup generators that activate within seconds of a grid failure. Vacation rentals and Airbnbs in residential neighborhoods, however, are typically unprotected unless the host has installed a generator.
This story was first reported by the Gringo Gazette and CERCA.