NEW : about 40 percent of power restored by about 4 p.m. local time , official says . Venezuela mayor says explosion at power station is being investigated . Power went out across much of the country 4:30 p.m . ET local time ( 7 p.m. ) High temperatures cited as a contributing factor in the outages .
NEW : 60 percent of power restored by 7 p.m. local time , official says . Caracas mayor says explosion at power station is being investigated . Power went out across much of the country about 4 p.m. local time ( 4:30 p.m . ET ) High temperatures cited as a contributing factor in the outages .