Chile cold front: power outages peaked at 127,643 customers and 13,681 remain without power on Wednesday

The cold front that swept across central Chile on Tuesday pushed the number of customers without power to its peak at 13:00, with 127,643 customers cut off nationwide, according to the online outage platform of the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels (SEC), which Energía Futura reviewed hour by hour. By 09:00 on Wednesday, October 21, the figure had fallen to 13,681, with the Santiago Metropolitan Region in first place (3,578).

That peak was brief and highly concentrated: 80,555 of the affected customers were in the Coquimbo Region, and in Ovalle alone 50,169 customers had no power at that hour. One hour later, Coquimbo was down to 15,817. The weather alerts, the government's meeting with utilities and Enel's emergency plan were covered yesterday in our story on the cold front alerts, which we updated with the 20:00 count.

The SEC platform gives an hourly snapshot of customers without power in each municipality, based on data reported by the distribution companies. These are the figures for selected hours on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, for all causes and nationwide:

The platform's figures do not always match those the SEC gives the press, because each one is a snapshot taken at a different minute. At 16:30, for example, the SEC reported 24,014 customers without power in Coquimbo, 14,608 in Valparaíso, 14,299 in Maule and 10,426 in the Metropolitan Region, according to T13. The 20:00 count topped 53,000 customers.

The curve shows three waves: one at midday in the north-central regions, Coquimbo and Valparaíso; another in the late afternoon in central Chile, with O'Higgins and the Metropolitan Region, when the thunderstorms arrived; and a third at night in Maule, where the rain intensified later.

Taking each region's worst moment, Coquimbo was by far the hardest hit. These are the peaks recorded by the SEC platform between Tuesday the 20th and Wednesday morning:

At the municipal level, the largest figures were concentrated in a few hours. At 13:00, besides Ovalle, 13,079 customers were without power in Monte Patria, 7,343 in Combarbalá and 5,529 in Punitaqui, all in the Limarí province. At 19:00, the city of Coquimbo had 9,451, Talagante 6,942, Quilpué 6,548 and El Monte 4,415. At 21:00, Constitución reached 13,238, followed by Coquimbo (6,219) and Alto Hospicio (3,962), in Tarapacá.

The platform does not report the cause of each outage. When more than 50,000 customers in a single municipality lose power at once and the number drops within an hour, it usually points to a fault on a line or substation feeding the whole area, rather than scattered damage to the low-voltage network. The utilities and the SEC had not reported the cause of the Ovalle outage at the time of writing.

Santiago received 38.2 millimetres of rain on Tuesday and Las Condes about 55, according to Meganoticias. On the Valparaíso coast, totals ranged from 40 to 50 millimetres. In La Pintana, lightning struck a pole and caused a transformer to explode, an incident confirmed by CGE, according to the same outlet.

The event is not over. Chile's weather service (DMC) has a thunderstorm warning in place, with possible hail and strong gusts, for seven regions from Coquimbo to Biobío, valid until the night of Thursday the 22nd, BioBioChile reported. Rain of 30 to 40 millimetres is also expected on the coast and coastal range of Maule, Ñuble and Biobío, with gusts of up to 60 km/h until Friday the 23rd.

For Santiago, the forecast calls for light showers on Wednesday afternoon, 2 to 5 millimetres, and more rain late Thursday and Friday morning. Deputy Interior Minister Máximo Pavez warned that “preparedness and alert levels should not yet be considered over”, according to Meganoticias.

Anyone still without power should report it to their utility with their customer number, even if they think the company already knows: every report is logged and later used to calculate compensation. If the company does not respond, the complaint can be escalated to the SEC.

• Report the outage through the utility's app, website or call centre, and keep the ticket number.
• Stay away from downed lines and damaged poles, and notify the company immediately.
• Unplug sensitive equipment during thunderstorms to avoid surge damage when power returns.
• Keep the fridge closed while the outage lasts.
• If someone at home is dependent on electrical medical equipment, tell the utility so it prioritises reconnection.

Chilean law provides compensation for hours without power beyond the limits set by the technical standard, and the SEC holds that rain and wind alone are not force majeure. How it is calculated and claimed is explained in our guide to cold front outages and how to claim.

With storm warnings still in place for the coming nights, it is worth keeping torches and power banks charged. Anyone who wants backup for the fridge or medical equipment can check which emergency solar kit makes sense for a power cut.

Tuesday's peak of 127,643 customers is high for a spring cold front, but far from the July storm, when the SEC reported 624,129 customers without power at 15:00 on a Thursday, with La Araucanía as the hardest-hit region, according to Meganoticias. Over that event, the SEC brought charges against utilities Frontel and Codiner.

The difference is also in duration. In July, thousands of customers spent several days without power. This time, most service was restored the same night: between 21:00 on Tuesday and 06:00 on Wednesday, the national figure fell from 61,011 to 13,239 customers.

How many customers lost power in the cold front?

The peak on the SEC platform was 127,643 customers at 13:00 on Tuesday, October 20. At 09:00 on Wednesday the 21st, 13,681 remained nationwide, for all causes.

Which region was hit hardest?

Coquimbo, with 80,555 customers without power at 13:00 on Tuesday, most of them in Ovalle. At night, Maule became the most affected region, with 22,768 at 21:00.

Where can I check outages in my area?

In the customers-without-power section of the SEC website, which shows affected customers by region and municipality, and through each utility's channels.

Will there be more rain and storms?

Yes. The DMC has a thunderstorm warning from Coquimbo to Biobío until Thursday night, and rain of 30 to 40 mm in Maule, Ñuble and Biobío on Wednesday.