Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


North, Northeast Brazil Hit by 18,000-Megawatt Power Outage

by Reuters

   SAO PAULO --

   Large swaths of Brazil's north and northeast suffered a power outage
   Wednesday, the operator of the nation's grid said, affecting tens of
   millions of consumers and 22.5 percent of total output, or 18,000
   megawatts.

   Lower house member Jose Carlos Aleluia, a former head of one of
   state-owned power utility Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA's units,
   said on Twitter the outage was caused by a test failure in a
   transmission line connecting to the Belo Monte dam.

   Eletrobras, as the utility is known, and China's State Grid Corp, which
   operate the transmission line, did not respond to requests for comment.