ENERGY CRISIS: Minimum two hour power cuts looming

GET YOUR candles ready. Power cuts. could begin in Panama as early as Friday May 10, in spite of drastic emergency measures to curtail the use of electricity.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, President, Ricardo Martinelli, railed against business who have not obeyed decrees mandating the turning off of electric signs.

He said "An enormous amount of signs" remain on, despite the energy saving measures announced by the Government . On TVN Noticias he said: “We must fulfill what the law says,”and he called for action by the of Public Services Authority which can levy fine of up to $5,000 for flouting the law.
He also called on the public to continue saving energy. While there has been a decrease of 15% in consumption, "there is no sign that it will rain."
He said that no one likes closing shops, casinos or bars. However, these are necessary steps to to avoid reaching drastic measures.
Earlier, the Secretary General of Energy, Vincent Prescott, said that despite the measures taken by the Government the crisis continues , because the level of hydroelectric reservoirs in Chiriqui Fortuna and Bayano are still declining due to lack of rain.
"We are bad shape. With noteven a drop of water falling and you have to use a large amount of water to generate thermal and hydraulic energy," he said , on FOX Report.
He said that if the situation continues as it is, after Thursday we could be seeing the first blackouts in the country.
"If we don’t get one drop blackouts could start Friday afternoon. " he announced.
Scheduled outages would be for at least two hours in different areas of the country.
"Two hours is the minimum, as they can be three to four hours [blackouts] depending on the need of the National Dispatch Center to reduce megawatt demand to allow the lakes to recover. He clarified that the measure would not apply to hospitals or treatment plants.