Ecuador to ration electricity starting next wk-official Friday October 5, 8:02 PM EDT

QUITO, Ecuador, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Ecuador will start rationing electricity next week due to problems in thermal energy generation and a lack of rain that threatens hydroelectric capacity, an official at the National Energy Control Center (Cenace), said on Friday.

The goal of the cuts that the government is planning is to reduce national energy consumption by 10 percent.

"It is unquestionable," the manager of Quito's electric distribution company and a member of energy administrator Cenace's board, Hernan Andino, told Reuters, when asked if there would be rationing.

"There is an order that 10 percent (of national consumption) must be cut during 12 hours (daily)," he explained.

Ecuador's capital, Quito, could expect planned outages of between three and five hours daily, while areas serviced by distributors that don't have their own electric plants could face cuts of up to 12 hours, he said.

Ecuador's dry season runs from about October to January, where little rain falls in the Andean highlands, which in years past led the government to ration electricity in times of drought.

"The calendars and sectors will be known next week. (Rationing) could continue beyond December, because the drought will go until the end of February," Andino said.

The country's biggest hydroelectric plant, Paute, was operating near critical levels on Friday, with water levels at 1,972.3 meters (6,470 feet) above sea level, just 2 meters (6 feet) above the plant's valid operating level.

Ecuador's electric sector is also plagued by problems in thermal generation. According to Cenace, several plants aren't producing due to a lack of fuel, while others are under repair.

The government declared electric services in a state of emergency on Thursday, assuming the right to limit operating hours for bars, restaurants and nightclubs, as well as set special prices for fuel used in electric generation.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 05, 2001