The lights went out across Quintana Roo’s tourist hubs last night. Hotels, restaurants, and streets plunged into darkness as a power failure hit seven municipalities—Cancún, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and others—starting at 6 PM on March 24, 2025. For a region that thrives on foreign visitors, the blackout wasn’t just inconvenient. It was costly.
Gas supply glitch triggers chaos
The culprit? A gas supply issue. High moisture levels in the fuel forced power plants to switch to backup sources, according to Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). Rotating outages followed to ease strain on the grid. Locals weren’t buying it. Social media lit up with complaints about the lack of warnings.
Data from the National Electric System shows the problem runs deeper. The peninsula’s demand hit 2,063 megawatts that day, but local generation managed only 828. The gap—1,237 megawatts—had to be imported. No official emergency was declared, but the math spells trouble.
Tourist zones take the hit
Picture packed resorts with no AC, elevators stuck between floors, and kitchens tossing spoiled food. Blackouts here aren’t just annoying. They’re bad for business. Last year’s heatwaves and droughts already strained power supplies nationwide. This outage echoes 2022’s system-wide failures.
The CFE insists these were planned cuts to prevent worse damage. Critics argue Mexico’s grid needs upgrades, especially in tourist areas where demand spikes with every heatwave. Reliance on imported U.S. gas doesn’t help.
Is this the new normal?
One blackout doesn’t mean more are coming—yet. Officials haven’t warned of further issues. But with rising temperatures and aging infrastructure, Quintana Roo’s power problems might not stay in the dark for long.