Power Outages Cost Playa del Carmen Businesses, Leaders Seek Federal Help

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Recurring power outages across Playa del Carmen are forcing businesses and offices to suspend operations and racking up losses, prompting the Riviera Maya Business Coordinating Council to call on the federal government to upgrade the city’s electrical infrastructure.

Ramon Cardenas, president of the business group, questioned the Federal Electricity Commission’s (CFE) ability to respond to blackouts, which he said are becoming more frequent and affect both residential neighborhoods and commercial establishments.

An interruption can completely halt office work, Cardenas said, but the consequences are worse for businesses that handle food and other products requiring refrigeration. “When the power goes out, you stop the office, everything you were doing just stops,” he said.

For restaurants and shops, he added, being without electricity for several hours means risking spoiled food and supplies, a situation that worsens as outages drag on. Residents in some parts of Playa del Carmen have reported outages lasting hours, while in other areas the interruptions have been shorter. “There’s no way a refrigerator can keep food in good condition,” Cardenas said. “At home it’s one thing, but a business, a restaurant that sells — it’s just too much time.”

Cardenas rejected the idea that Playa del Carmen’s growth justifies the supply failures, saying the CFE should anticipate rising demand and make the necessary investments. “They are the ones who have to plan, who have to project. They saw growth, a growth trend; they should be projecting that,” he said.

He noted that residential expansion continues in areas already experiencing supply problems and questioned how the additional demand from new housing will be handled.

He called on the federal government to intervene to strengthen Playa del Carmen’s electrical infrastructure, stressing that the required investments are beyond municipal authority.

According to Cardenas, two new substations had been proposed earlier to improve the city’s power supply capacity, but he said the business sector has seen no progress. “There was talk of two new stations to be built. We haven’t seen any advances. Supposedly these two substations would help regulate the energy situation a bit more here,” he said.

He also said the CFE needs more crews to handle failures across the municipality.

“It’s about calling on the president again to say: this isn’t a municipal issue, it’s not something the CFE delegation here in Playa del Carmen can solve, because the resources have to come directly from the federal government,” he said.

Cardenas drew a parallel with the comprehensive strategy for addressing sargassum in Quintana Roo, saying the power supply deserves similar federal attention because of its impact on residents and the economy. “The call is again to the president to put this on the table, right now that the whole sargassum plan is in place. Electricity is a mega-problem here,” he said.