The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), declared this Thursday (11) that the state is hostage to Enel and once again requested the intervention and expiration of the concession contract for the supply of electricity in the metropolitan region.
The company is already working to extend the contract by 30 years, which expires in 2028.
Given Enel’s difficulties in restoring electricity supplies, Tarcísio also said the company’s workforce was insufficient.
“We have a very old contract with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and that is regulated by Aneel (a federal authority). We need investments to automate the network because every year we will have weather events,” said Tarcísio.
“The emergency plan did not work, yesterday we had 1,600 field teams, according to the company, and it is absolutely insufficient, we ended up having 2.2 million people without electricity.”
“This is why we are proposing the start of the process of expiration and intervention, we are critical of the intervention. The intervention works because the intervener will have the money (from Enel) to carry out the work. What worries us is the lack of speed in restoring energy”, continued the governor.
Tarcísio said he informed the Ministry of Mines and Energy and Aneel of all the problems. The two organizations manage and supervise the concession contract.
“We are doing what is possible, with legal action, at the TCU (Federal Court of Auditors) and by invoking Aneel. It all depends on the government, because we are at a crossroads, we are not owners of the contract, which is the responsibility of the federal government,” he said.
Tarcísio also took the opportunity to refute statements made by Minister Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy) in September. At the time, government minister Lula suggested that Tarcísio and the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), were acting in a populist manner, but that the contract should only be renewed after analysis and technical studies.
“Every weather event will have problems, and I have said that and there has been criticism from the minister saying he is trying to play politics. As for these people who are without power in their homes, when will the power be restored? This installation will take a few days,” the governor said.
This Thursday, the Attorney General of Justice, Paulo Sérgio de Oliveira e Costa, instructed the Consumer Protection Prosecutor’s Office of Capital to monitor the crisis and take measures for Enel to reimburse and compensate consumers affected by the loss of food and medicine.
“Clearly, control of natural phenomena is not required. What is expected of all actors involved in the situation is a rapid response to the event, thus mitigating the disruptions in the lives of millions of people in São Paulo,” Costa said, in a note.
Contacted by the information, the Enel press service did not comment specifically on the governor’s statements.
In a note published Thursday, the dealership indicates that São Paulo and the metropolitan area were hit by a wind storm considered historic by Inmet, which lasted about 12 hours yesterday.
“The weather event caused serious damage to electrical infrastructure, affecting supply in several regions. To accelerate the restoration of the system, the distributor is mobilizing more than 1,600 teams on the ground throughout the day,” Enel said Thursday afternoon.
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