Mayor and governor demanded federal intervention with dealership after power outage; the minister said they were engaged in a “political conflict”
The Mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), asked President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to help resolve the crisis at the electricity distributor Enel. The mayor made this request during the launching ceremony of SBT News, in Osasco (SP), this Friday 12, where the invited authorities were called to speak.
On Wednesday the 10th, a record storm hit Greater São Paulo and left 2.2 million properties without power. More than two days after the start of the outage, 686,000 homes are still without electricity in the region. The problem also affected the water supply.
Enel was criticized for its delay in responding to the power outage. The company, in turn, claims to be fulfilling its obligations and claims to have activated 1,600 teams on the streets – Nunes disputes the figures. Television images showed several Enel cars parked in the yard at the height of the power outage.
“I hope that on Monday, during the premiere (from the new broadcaster)President, we still do not have the city of São Paulo with Enel. You have to help us with this. It’s not easy,” Nunes said. Lula reacted in the audience with just a smile.
The mayor and governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) defended federal intervention in Enel in the face of service supply problems. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, did not indicate his intention to adopt the measure and declared that the mayor and the governor were in “political conflict”. (read more below).
Nunes spoke shortly after former minister and former federal deputy Fábio Faria, who heads the new channel SBT News. Besides him and Lula, Tarcísio, vice-president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB); Ministers Fernando Haddad (Finance), Frederico Siqueira Filho (Communications) and Sidônio Palmeira (Secretariat of Social Communication).
The Minister of the Federal Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes is also present. This is the minister’s first public appearance since the US government on Friday lifted sanctions imposed by the Magnitsky Act against him and his wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes.
Recommended intervention in the technical area of the TCU
On Thursday, Tarcísio called for federal government intervention in Enel. He said the measure is necessary to resolve the problem.
“The intervention works, but the emergency plan does not,” the governor said. Tarcísio described the company’s performance in restoring energy supplies as “absolutely insufficient.”
In a press release, Minister Alexandre Silveira reacted. “While the governor of São Paulo and the mayor of the state capital prefer to turn an extreme weather episode into a political conflict, the Brazilian government remains focused on what really matters: restoring electricity to the population quickly and safely,” Silveira said.
Nine days before blackout in Greater São Paulo, the technical area of the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) recommended to the National Electric Energy Agency (Anaël) evaluate the possibility of federal intervention In Énel.
The audit revealed that the concessionaire had not respected seven of the eleven signed results plans. He also said that the sanctions have not been effective, given the judicialization of fines applied by the agency (more than 260 million reais).
The appointment of the Specialized Audit Unit for Electric and Nuclear Energy (AudElétrica) of the TCU was sent on December 1 to Minister Augusto Nardes. At Stadiumthe court informs that the recommendation has not yet been considered in plenary, for which no date has been set.
The windstorm recorded in São Paulo was the largest in history. Winds reached 98 km/h in Lapa, west of the city. In the Congonhas airport region in the south, wind speeds reached 96 km/h.
In total, more than 300 flights were canceled at Congonhas and Guarulhos International Airport.
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