Mexico president says power outages 'exceptional', grid has enough capacity

Mexico's electricity grid has enough capacity after widespread power outages struck on Tuesday, the country's president said Wednesday, calling the power cuts that hit states "exceptional" while pledging to coordinate with private producers. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters at his regular morning press conference that the outages were largely due to a heat wave affecting parts of the country.

Mexico's electricity grid has enough capacity after widespread power outages struck on Tuesday, the country's president said Wednesday, calling the power cuts that hit states "exceptional" while pledging to coordinate with private producers.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters at his regular morning press conference that the outages were largely due to a heat wave affecting parts of the country. "This was something exceptional that was not expected," said Lopez Obrador.

The power cuts affected around 20 of Mexico's 32 states, according to grid operator Cenace. He added that meetings scheduled for later on Wednesday aim to address the problem, emphasizing the need to work with the private companies that generate around half of Mexico's electricity needs.

Over the past six years, Lopez Obrador has sought to prioritize the dispatch of power from state-owned electricity company Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) while curtailing the growth of privately-owned generators.