An extensive power outage affected large areas of Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area on Thursday afternoon amid a heatwave that steadily increased electricity demand. In the suburbs, service interruptions were also reported in districts such as San Isidro, Vicente López, and San Martín, worsening the situation in densely populated areas with a high concentration of commercial activity and offices. The blackouts began in the early afternoon and were mainly concentrated in Edenor's concession area, significantly impacting Buenos Aires neighborhoods and municipalities in the northern Greater Buenos Aires. In the city, the most affected neighborhoods were Palermo, Belgrano, and Núñez, where thousands of users were left without power for several hours. In this context, specialists warned that intense heatwaves, combined with networks pushed to their limits, increase the likelihood of large-scale blackouts, especially in urban areas with high consumption concentration. As restoration efforts continued, the blackout left thousands of residents in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires in suspense during a day marked by heat, uncertainty, and difficulties in maintaining daily activities without electricity. Shops, residential buildings, and offices were left without power, and in many cases, without water due to the interruption of electric pumps. From distribution companies, it was reported that technical crews were deployed to restore service progressively, although no immediate details were provided on the times for total normalization. In public transport, delays and disruptions were registered in the subway's operation, with partial interruptions on some lines and reduced frequencies. The lack of energy also affected the operation of traffic lights on several key arteries, causing vehicular congestion and circulation complications, especially in the city's northern corridor. In parallel, users were asked to moderate electricity consumption as much as possible, a common recommendation during periods of stress on the energy system. The episode once again brought to the forefront the fragility of the electrical infrastructure in the face of increasingly frequent extreme weather events during the summer. According to reports, the combination of high demand and failures in the distribution network would have caused outages on different feeders, although the specific technical causes remained under analysis. The impact of the power cut quickly extended to other essential services.
