SANTIAGO, CHILE (FOLHAPRESS) – A massive power outage struck various cities across Chile on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, spanning from the northern region of Arica and Parinacota to the southern region of Los Lagos, including the capital, Santiago. According to local reports, the outage began at 15:16 local time, affecting approximately 20 million people.
Minutes after the blackout began, Santiago Metro announced the suspension of its services due to the power cut, leading to the evacuation of users from stations. "We are removing people from the stations as a precaution. Our team is positioned at the site to guarantee everyone's safety," stated the Metro authorities on social media.
The outage, one of the most significant the country has faced since 2010, led to severe disruptions throughout multiple sectors, including transportation, health care, education, and telecommunications. The national power coordinating authority confirmed widespread effects but was unable to provide specific information about the cause of the outage.
Transport Minister Carolina Tohá described the situation on the same day at an emergency meeting, indicating the government was mobilizing national disaster risk management protocols. "We hope what we were told happens, and the electrical service will return in the next hours," she said.
Chaos ensued on public transportation systems, particularly as the Santiago Metro, which typically serves over 2 million passengers daily, ground to a halt. Witnesses described crowded streets where buses were overloaded with commuters trying to return home. María Angélica Román, a worker who gained early release from her job, lamented her plight: "They freed us from work because of the blackout, but now I don’t know how to get home because all the buses are packed."
Other public services were equally affected. Hospitals reported having to transfer patients due to disrupted power, and schools across the country suspended classes. People took to social media, expressing their frustrations and sharing updates about the situation.
The blackout also impacted major mining operations, particularly the state-owned Codelco, which reported power loss across all its sites, including its Chuquicamata and Andina mines. Antofagasta, another significant mining company, resorted to using generators to maintain operations during the outage.
Enel, the Italian energy provider responsible for power distribution, acknowledged the blackout's scale, stating on social media, "The blackout is affecting large parts of the country." Despite its prompt acknowledgment, the company had not identified any fault leading to the outage, prompting concerns about its capacity to maintain infrastructural integrity.
By early the following day, approximately 90% of the affected customers had their power restored as teams worked tirelessly to address the issue. President Gabriel Boric addressed the nation, attributing the crisis to the incompetence of energy companies and promising accountability and corrective measures: "It's unacceptable for companies not to do their jobs well," he asserted.
The power failure, the worst experience for Chile since the blackout of 2010, underscored the vulnerabilities within the national electrical grid. While the specific causes of the recent outage remain unclear, the public is demanding answers, as frustration grows over the government and energy providers' ability to prevent such incidents. It leaves many citizens questioning how well their utilities are equipped to handle emergencies and maintain the stability of services central to daily life.
Residents across the country are left with anxiety over the reliability of electricity supply and will undoubtedly keep watch for how the government responds to this major crisis. With the RAM (National Electric Coordinator) still conducting investigations, the hope is for preventive measures to avoid any future occurrences of such scale.