Puerto Vallarta has reliable electricity. CFE is the electric company. Puerto Vallarta rarely has any kind of brownouts or blackouts. I don't remember the last time there was one. That is a thing of perhaps 20 years ago. 

 

The sewage systems and water treatment plants are relatively new and there are several of them. The quality of life is so much better here in Puerto Vallarta.  

 

(Three story villa with fireplace next to the pool, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)

The electricity in Puerto Vallarta is reliable, but, like anywhere in Mexico, it’s a little expensive, so we try not to use air conditioning. We don’t really get blackouts or brownouts in Puerto Vallarta, except maybe in the summer when there’s a huge rainstorm. Within Puerto Vallarta, there aren’t not too many issues with electricity. Outside of Puerto Vallarta in the surrounding areas, they have blackouts that last for 20 minutes.

 

I’ve lived in Puerto Vallarta for seven years, and in those seven years, I haven’t experienced any significant blackouts and brownouts. We’ve had a couple of 30-minute blackouts, but that’s it.

 

We do have surge suppressors for electrical storms that occur in summer. I would definitely recommend having surge suppressors for TV’s and computers during the summer.

 

(Vallarta Food Tour samples the night time food stalls, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)

Electricity in the area of Puerto Vallarta and Sayulita (where I am from, about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta) is reliable, but it is expensive. The electric bill for a house that we manage is 8,500 pesos (US $465) every 2 months. This is for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. It has air-conditioning, four wall fans, and a pool. The electric bill is about the same throughout the year.

 

Here in Sayulita, we have blackouts, but in Puerto Vallarta, the electricity is very stable. When it rains, or if there is a thunderstorm or a hurricane, you could expect for the electricity to go out in Sayulita. On average, when the electricity does go out, it does so for half the day in the morning or about 2 or 3 hours at night.  

 

(Upper bedroom terrace, Sayulita, Mexico, pictured.)

The reliability of electricity in Puerto Vallarta depends on the area where you live. Electricity in Marina Vallarta can be more expensive than the electricity in the neighborhood that I live in. Every two months, I pay US $15 for electricity so it’s really affordable but if you live in a place like Marina Vallarta, you might be paying $150 to $200 every 2 months because they use more air-conditioning, which could very quickly raise the amount of your electric bill.

 

We don’t worry about blackouts because they don’t happen very often here, a lot of which is due to the fact that the economy of Puerto Vallarta relies more on tourism and the expats who are coming to stay here, so electricity is one of the primary things that are being taken care of here. In the last 5 years, I only experienced one blackout. Any issue with electricity is taken care of swiftly here in Puerto Vallarta because a place with a lot of blackouts is a place that people do not want to visit and spend thousands of dollars every time they come, so the reliability of electricity is not a problem in Puerto Vallarta at all.  

 

(Hotel Casavelas, Puerto Vallarta Mexico, pictured.)

Blackouts only happen in Puerto Vallarta if there is a big storm. It doesn’t happen a lot and it usually doesn’t affect the entire area of Puerto Vallarta.

 

In some areas, like Lo de Marcos, since it is a very small town in the area, blackouts happen more often when it rains and in the summer. (Lo de Marcos is on the coast, about one hour by car north of Puerto Vallarta.)  When a blackout happens in Lo de Marcos, you just light your candle, have a glass of wine, and enjoy the darkness. It doesn’t happen very often; blackouts happen about twice a year and it lasts for about 2 hours unless if there is a big storm, in which case, it could take longer depending on how severe the weather is.

 

Most of the big houses in Lo de Marcos have their own generators because in the beginning, there was no electric service coming into the town so you had to provide for your own. Now that there is electric service, most of the big houses kept their generators, which is what they use in case there is a blackout. Other houses, instead of buying generators, installed solar power systems. 

 

Overall, blackouts do not happen in Puerto Vallarta unless there is a very huge storm or if lightning struck one of the power generators, which rarely happens.  

 

(The view from a villa in "Gringo Gulch," Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)