By Belize Live News Staff: Belize does not currently generate enough electricity to meet its own peak demand. That is the plain reading of the figures BEL released this week.
On August 25, local generation stood at about 103 megawatts. Demand that evening hit 122. On August 31, generation was around 109 against demand of 117.
Both nights, the gap was being covered by supply from Mexico. Both nights, that supply dropped temporarily. Both nights, the country lost power.
BEL says the shortfall comes from a combination of seasonal conditions, scheduled maintenance and reduced output at some facilities.
Relief is coming, but not immediately. Temporary generation is being installed at the Westlake Facility and should start running by mid-September, for an initial six months. That came out of a Cabinet emergency declaration following BEL’s warning in October 2025 that 2026 would be tight.
The company is not promising an end to outages in the meantime.
“There may be instances where controlled power interruptions or load shedding are required,” the statement reads.
Have you invested in a generator or backup power yet?
