Electric Power Rationing Continues
Even though the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) was able to restore operations at the Moín (Limón) and San Antonio de Belen power stations, rotating electric power cuts will continue through the weekend.

The third plant located in Barranca, Puntarenas, is still out of order and will be the reason for power cuts if the plant doesn't go online soon, according to ICE spokesperson, Geovanni Bonilla.

The rotating power cuts will be all over the country. Since Thursday, ICE has been shutting down power to all localities, for between two and three hours at a time. Costa Rican can expect that when the lights go out, it will come back in 2 hours, said Bonilla.

And the cut in electrical power supply has mean water cuts as well, as the pumps working on electricity stop when the power is cut in the affected area, cutting water to large areas.

In San José the rotating power cuts have caused traffic congestion in many major intersections as traffic lights stop working, some becoming damaged and needing repair, spreading thin the resources of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Tranpsortes (MOPT).

On the good side, the Policía de Tránsito (traffic police) report less traffic accidents and the few accidents that have occurred have been fender benders mainly. One Tránsito official the popular radio station, Radio Puntarenas, said that it seems the conscious of Ticos has been raised as they are seeing more defensive driving and more courtesy on the roads since Thursday and that the worries of the Policía de Tránsito director, who feared total chaos, never realized.

"During the weekend the power cuts will continue and there is no clear answer as to when it will end", said Bonilla, who added that there is hope that the technical problems will be resolved by today.

ICE has ordered that the power utilities, like the Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz, that distribute the electrical power to residents and businesses have ready an extended plan of rationing and that power outages cannot be longer than three hours in each sector, as it prepares in the event that the rationing will continue into the end of next week.