The national government decided to move forward in the decision to start a f“in-situ” inspection at the energy distributor Edesur after the successive breaches in the provision of the service, and continues with the analysis of “legal variables” related to the concessionaire.
“For the first time there will be an ‘in situ’ presence of the company because it also We have detected that a lot of information that reaches the ENRE is not consistent with reality,” said this morning the controller of the National Electricity Regulation Entity (ENRE), Walter Martello, in dialogue with Radio 10, Urbana Play and Futurock.
Last night Martello explained -in his Twitter account- that the presence in the company of the ENRE technical staff will consist of a “assisted permanent monitoring” in which they will have “access to its four operating bases and the possibility of monitoring in real time the claims processes and customer service and commercial qualityhe” as well as “the office of crews, available personnel and the necessary technical equipment”.
Although the ENRE had already named as supervisor in the company to the engineer Silvia Merzi at the beginning of last year, the “in-situ” audit – which will be regulated in administrative proceedings in the coming days – will be “the first” of its kind in which “a regulatory entity will be within the company,” he said Martello.
The comptroller clarified that in the same the State will not assume the operational functions of the company but will, rather, a “control in real time.”
“We cannot get into there because there is a contract still in force and, furthermore, the responsibility for providing the service remains theirs,” explained the official.
sanctions
Regarding Sanctions announced last night, Martello indicated that “a judicial sentence for more than $1,000 million will be executed, in addition to the fines that the ENRE has applied since September to date, which already reach a value of more than $2,000 million for Edesur.”
The users can claim compensation for cuts to the ENRE, which will be reflected as a credit in the following invoices and will be calculated automatically, except in claims for damage to appliances that will be based on documentation and repair budgets.
To claim, users “must enter the ENRE page with the claim number before Edesur and they will be compensated proportionally to the days that they were without electricity in the next bill”.
“It is important that we promote this culture of complaints because it also helps us to accumulate a critical mass of non-compliances to analyze the steps to follow with the company,” said Martello, who explained that “in the last six months they were returned, through this mechanism, $2.400 million”.
Until noon today, 12,000 users remained without electricity in the concession areaaccording to the data handled by the ENRE.
Martello criticized the “failures” and the “almost shameless attitude” of the company and said that the decision of Enel -majority shareholder of the distributor- to sell its generation and distribution operations in the country generated an impression of “absolute withdrawal” in the provision of the service with “fractured management lines where some blame others”.
“They state that as an international group they have never left any country, leaving the issues abandoned, but the truth gives the impression that the opposite is happening,” he said.
Martello denied that the power outages are due to problems of high temperatures or tariffsand recalled that even with “increases of 2,500% to 3,000%” in rates, they had the “highest cuts in the summer months.”
They analyze legal variables
Beyond the fines and the reinforced control of Edesur, from the Government they recognize that they analyze “legal variables” related to the company.
The spokesperson for the Presidency, Gabriela Cerrutti, said that “the Government analyzes all legal and possible variables to take care of Edesur users”, and assured that “there is no energy crisis in the country because the problem is from a single company”.
“We have been seeing the level of power outages and mistreatment of users in recent years,” Cerruti said this morning at his usual press conference at Government House.
There he stressed that “the Government analyzes all the variables as long as they legally exist and are possible to take care of users”, and remarked that “in the case of Edesur, the level of power outages and mistreatment of users is what we see seeing for the last few years.
The Italian firm Enel -Edesur’s main shareholder- announced some time ago the decision to get rid of the electricity distributor, something that could become effective next March.
The purchase of the shares of the Italian firm or the removal of the concession were suggested as options, ruling out expropriation due to the legal and economic consequences that this would imply.
Another optionpromoted by the Buenos Aires chief of staff, Martin Insaurralde and supported by various mayors of the Edesur area of operation, is that the municipalities themselves take charge of the operation through a consortium.
“I think that the State has to have direct interference in a company that is a natural monopoly and that has 60 years of concession left,” said Martello, who clarified that it is a “personal opinion” and that the decision “corresponds to the Power Executive”.
In this sense, he cited the example of state participation in Electrobras in Brazil, where the State owns 45% of the shares.
According to the possibility of expropriation Martello considered that “that would not be the best way for the economic consequence that a trial at ICSID may have on the country, although he considered that “the end of the concession can happen quietly” if “a sufficiently thorough report from a technical point of view” is presented on the breaches.
“I believe that we cannot continue living with a concession like Edesur’s for another 60 years, which is what they have ahead of them, with which some firmer discussion must be taken regarding that,” the official said.
Edesur statement
Edesur, for its part, issued a statement this afternoon in which it referred to the meeting they held yesterday with the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa; the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royon and other authorities of the sector.
“Beyond the fines and penalties that the authority decides to apply in the exercise of its control function, we agree that the structural solution happens because the companies can have sufficient resources to operate, maintain and make the investments that the system requires and thus accompany the growth of the country”, said Claudio Cunha, Country Manager of Enel Argentina.
“We are working together on the preparation of a plan that is under development,” said Cunha, after which he maintained that in the meeting Minister Massa stated that the Government has no intention of intervening in the operation of the company, nor changing the situation. company assets.
Lastly, Cunha apologized to the customers for the inconveniences caused and thanked the Edesur workers for the dedication and commitment they always show, especially since this contingency began.
