The Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels, SEC, confirmed that it has filed charges against the company CGE, after verifying that it exceeded the maximum replacement times established in the electrical regulations, harming customers in municipalities of the Metropolitan Region, such as Peñaflor, Curacaví and Talagante, among others, and also in the O’Higgins Region, such as Rengo and Pichilemu, among others, and it was also verified that, in addition, it failed to comply with its obligation to keep its networks clear in our region.
According to a public statement from the Superintendency, “The investigation that began as soon as the first power outages occurred on the night of Thursday, August 1 of last week, led to the technical and legal conviction that CGE was responsible for the delay in restoring power to its customers in 21 municipalities in the RM and 16 in the O’Higgins Region, confirming the existence of almost 2,500 homes that had been without electricity for more than 72 hours.”
The agency also claims that “it was also found that the company failed to comply with its pruning and clearing work by not keeping its electrical networks in good condition in the communes of Rengo and Requínoa, in the O’Higgins Region, which ultimately facilitated the falling of trees or branches onto the power lines, causing service outages that affected the company’s customers in that area.” They claim that additionally, “this Regional Directorate of the SEC instructed the company to submit daily recovery plans, in order to permanently monitor them,” although the statement sent by the SEC does not indicate what these recovery requirements are.
“HE ALSO FAILED TO COMPLY”
On the other hand, the Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow, indicated that “as we announced these days, the formulation of charges against CGE shows that this company also failed to comply with preventive work to clear its networks and then, once the outages occurred, they delayed the restoration for a long time, leaving thousands of customers with more than 72 hours without supply. These violations are unacceptable since citizens deserve limited restoration times. We will continue to act with the full weight of the law so that companies comply with their obligations.”
For her part, the Superintendent of the SEC, Marta Cabeza, said that “before the event, we told the electric companies that they had to take all measures to avoid power outages, and long before that, we demanded action plans that included pruning and clearing their networks, but in light of the results, unfortunately, the company CGE also failed to meet the demands of customers and regulations today, which is a continuous and secure supply.”
Finally, the SEC called on people to follow the SEC’s official social media accounts: Instagram (@sec_chile), LinkedIn (Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles – SEC), X (@SEC_cl) and Superintendencia SEC (Facebook), where citizens can access useful information and safety tips for the use of energy.
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