2019: U.S. Sanctions Have Prevented Solutions for Venezuela’s Electricity Crisis

The Guri Dam on the Caroni River (684 KM from Caracas) was built in the 1960s. The Guri power station is the 6th largest hydroelectric power station in the world and supplies about 80% of the electricity used in Venezuela. The reliance on hydropower has long been an explicit goal of the government so that a maximum amount of oil can be exported. (Guri replaces the equivalent of 300,000 barrels of oil/day).[3]

In 2007, Venezuela’s private power companies were nationalized into one state-run monopoly known as Corpoelec. The company is underfunded and unable to recover its own operating costs. The factors creating this situation dates back to 2002 when national electricity rates were frozen.[1] In Venezuela consumers pay only 20% of the real cost of producing power delivering Venezuelans the lowest electricity rates in Latin America. Supplemental funds have been provided by the state oil company PDVSA. However, the significant decline in oil prices in 2014-2016 reduced available funding for the electricity sector which reduced needed maintenance. 

The reliance on hydropower from just one dam makes the electric system vulnerable to any interruption in operation at Guri. In 2010, President Chavez declared a national electricity emergency due to extreme drought. One initiative focused on building thermoelectric powerplants that could operate with diesel or with gas. (Venezuela is home to the world’s 7th largest natural gas reserves). However, little investment has been made in gas transmission lines. Backup thermoelectric plants have been built that rely on diesel which is produced by combining oil with imported diluents. Many thermal plants are shut down due to lack of maintenance.[4]

On March 7, 2019 Venezuela entered the worst power outage in the country’s history due to interruptions from Guri. Plunging all 23 states into darkness, the blackout lasted over five days in the majority of the country. The economic losses triggered by this event exceeded $800 million and led to the deaths of 46 people. [1] 

On March 29, 2019, the New York Times published an OP-ED co-authored by the former head of Venezuela’s Congressional Budget Office and a former official at a Venezuelan utility. They described the role of U.S. sanctions in prolonging Venezuela’s electricity crisis.[2]

·       “To fully understand why it took Venezuela at least four days to restore power in March, you need an even wider lens: one that includes Washington. It is undeniable that Mr Chavez and Mr Maduro are to blame for having brought the country to this ruinous state. Nevertheless, United States economic sanctions have left Mr Maduro’s government unable to resolve the crisis on its own. For starters, one of the reasons some of the thermal plants were down was the lack of fuel necessary to run them. Many of these plants run on diesel, which Venezuela was importing from the United States before the Trump administration banned its trade in January. It is not surprising that many diesel-fueled thermal plants were inactive one month later. Furthermore, Venezuela’s large electricity sector depends heavily on parts and services supplied by foreign companies. General Electric and Siemens provide most of the power generators used by Venezuela’s oil industry as well as much of the major equipment used in its hydroelectric plants. United States financial sanctions adopted in August 2017 left Venezuela unable to pay its foreign suppliers. As a result, Venezuela was unable to maintain or replace its power generators, and began relying more on hydroelectricity, contributing to the risk of overloading the system.”



1.      The Borgen Project, Blackouts: The Issue of Electricity in Venezuela, February 5, 2021

2.      Rodriguez, F. and J.A. Rodriguez, Venezuela’s Powerless Revolution, New York Times, March 26, 2019

3.      Orinoco Tribune, Heightened Security at Guri Dam, Amid Sabotage Threats, July 11, 2025

4.      Viscidi, L and N. Graham, Blackouts in Venezuela: Why the Power System Failed and How to Fix It, Elanco Royal Institute, 4/22/2019.

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