Greece's dominant electric utility, Public Power Corporation SA (PPC.AT), began rolling blackouts early Wednesday in some two dozen localities across the country as an ongoing strike by workers shut down power plants.
"Starting this morning, we have had rolling blackouts in various regions because of the strike," a PPC official said. "Currently, some 14 power plants remain out of operation."
Monday, the power sector employees union, Genop, began the first of four 24-hour rolling strikes to protest Greek government changes to the pension system.
As a result of the strikes, as well as scheduled maintenance shutdowns, some 14 plants with 3.675 gigawatts of generating capacity - roughly a quarter of PPC's total installed capacity of some 12.7 GW - were out of service. PPC, the one-time monopoly, provides about 90% of Greece's electricity needs.
In a statement Tuesday, the company warned that it might have to begin power cuts because of the shutdowns.
Among the areas affected by the blackouts are some nine localities in Attica province, the province that surrounds the capital Athens and where roughly 40% of the Greek population lives. Another nine localities in northern Greece, some three localities in central and western Greece, and an undisclosed number of localities in southern Greece have also been affected.
However, there have been no power cuts so far in the major cities of Athens or Thessaloniki.