In the face of too much demand, Coopeguanacaste, the electrical cooperative in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, on Thursday began a new wave of six-hour electrical outages in El Coco and Ocotal from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Other interruptions will occur during the same hours on Oct. 2, 9, 16 and 24.

Previously, most outages lasted four hours, but in a memo addressed to Coopeguanacaste's clients, operations manager Eduardo Cabalceta explained that workers needed larger blocks of time to be effective as they upgrade infrastructure. Such outages, the memo admitted, are especially difficult on parts of the country that depend on the tourism industry.

According to Coopeguanacaste, electrical consumption in the Santa Cruz and Carrillo cantons has increased by 15 percent in the last three years, primarily due to the residential and tourist sector growth. Electrical consumption increases on average 4 to 7 percent annually in other Latin American countries.

To provide for the increased demand, Coopeguanacaste is spending $47 million on electrical infrastructure upgrades, which include a new substation and new 230–kilovolt lines.

Coopeguanacaste predicts that the completed project will not only allow for a higher capacity of electricity transmission, but it will also reduce the number of other unforeseen outages when car crashes, felled trees, branches, wind, animals and even birds' nests disrupt service.

The group has been able to secure just 45 percent of the property easements needed for the Papagayo to Nuevo Colón segment of the project.