THE National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon) opened administrative proceedings to investigate the facts and evidence presented by Enel on the impact of the power outage in the city of São Paulo. The Ministry of Justice body mainly wants to verify the effectiveness of the company’s communication channels and service to consumers who were victims of the blackouts that left more than 3 million people without electricity in the city’s metropolitan region.
The process was opened based on responses sent by Enel after Senacon notified the company twice this week. According to Senacon, the company partially responded to the information requested about the impact of the power outage on customers, the available service channels and emergency plans to restore electricity supply.
Senacon, informed the Ministry of Justice, granted another 5 days for Enel to answer some questions, such as the detailed diagnosis of the event and the impact on operations. The company had asked for extra time to respond.
Another point to be evaluated by Senacon will be the distributor’s preventive measures. The secretariat will analyze the contingency plan and repairs for consumers affected by the 2023 and this year’s blackouts, network maintenance, tree pruning and possible failures in the provision of the service.
On the 11th, millions of consumers were left without electricity in the metropolitan region of São Paulo after a storm with winds of up to 107 kilometers per hour. In a note, the National Consumer Secretary, Wadih Damous, highlighted that “extreme weather events, although challenging, cannot serve as a justification for the lack of planning and adequate response from concessionary companies”.
