Santiago. Chile’s government has given an ultimatum to Italian energy giant Enel, the main electricity distributor in the country’s capital, to restore power after a prolonged blackout a week ago.
If the company fails to comply, a process will be initiated to revoke the concession of the electric company that operates in Santiago, where nine of the nearly 20 million inhabitants of Chile live.
“They were told yesterday: they have to recover 20,000 customers. Twelve thousand have been recovered and they have until 11:59 p.m. (Thursday) to recover the rest,” Chilean Energy Minister Diego Pardow told reporters on Thursday.
“This is the third recovery plan, and I want to be clear: it is a plan that violates regulatory standards. It is not responsible to citizens to allow a third plan to be violated again,” the minister added.
President Gabriel Boric said on Wednesday that he had requested a review of Enel’s concession in light of the power outages that occurred after the unusual front of rain and strong gusts of wind that affected Santiago and other regions of Chile on Thursday, August 1.
“I have asked our Minister of Energy to evaluate not only all the sanctioning options that exist, some of which are already underway, but also to review the concession of the company Enel,” Boric said at the time.
In Santiago, Enel reported a maximum of 794 thousand customers without electricity, mostly affected by trees falling on power lines.
In total, the Italian company distributes energy to two million customers in Santiago, where it acts as a “regulated monopoly.”
The widespread power outages have sparked protests in several neighborhoods of the Chilean capital, where residents have even set up barricades.
The government has also charged the Chinese-owned electricity distribution company CGE for delays in restoring supplies.
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– 2024-08-17 04:55:59
