Residents of São Paulo and cities across the metropolitan region took to the streets to protest Enel and the lack of electricity. After days of storms and the effects of an extratropical cyclone, approximately 365 thousand properties served by the concessionaire remained without electricity until this Saturday afternoon (12/13).
On Rua Bom Pastor, in the Ipiranga district, south of the capital, residents only ended the protest after an Enel truck arrived and restored service.
At Metropolisesstudent Isabella Hashimoto said she has been without power since Wednesday (10/12) and dealership employees had already visited the area, but claimed a tree was hindering service. She said power to the street returned by 3:20 p.m. on Saturday, but other parts of the neighborhood remained in the dark.
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Enel workers restore power in Ipiranga, south of São Paulo, after residents protest
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Enel workers restore power in Ipiranga, south of São Paulo, after residents protest
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Enel workers restore power in Ipiranga, south of São Paulo, after residents protest
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Enel workers restore power in Ipiranga, south of São Paulo, after residents protest
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Enel workers restore power in Ipiranga, south of São Paulo, after residents protest
William Cardoso/Metropolises
The young woman, who runs a Japanese restaurant with her family, lost around R$1,500 in products such as frozen products and fish due to the outage. On Friday (12/12), “tired of losing goods”, she spent another R$1,500 to buy a generator.
Friday of demonstrations
The wave of protests began on Friday, when some regions had already been in the dark for more than three days. In Bela Vista, the central region of the capital, residents gathered late in the afternoon against Enel. On Saturday, power had not yet been restored. Without electricity, the water supply was also interrupted.
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Demonstration against Enel in Cotia, Grand SP
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Demonstration against Enel in Grajaú, south of São Paulo
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Demonstration against Enel in Jardim Miriam, south of São Paulo
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Demonstration against Enel in the Bela Vista neighborhood, central region of São Paulo
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Demonstration against Enel on Avenida Escola Politécnica, west of São Paulo
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Protesters close the Anhanguera highway to protest against Enel in Cajamar
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Another demonstration, bringing together around forty people, was organized on Avenida Escola Politécnica, to the west of the capital. Residents set fires and blocked one direction of the road.
The same thing happened in Grajaú, southern zone. “Three days without electricity. The Enel guys come by and do nothing,” reported a resident during the demonstration, also on Friday. “Let’s see if they solve the problem now. Let’s see if they will see us here,” he said. He then threatened to “block” the other side of the road if the dealership did not resolve the problem.
Protests were also recorded in Pirituba, in the northern zone, where residents blocked Estrada do Sabão and Rua Elísio Teixeira Leite. In Jardim Miriam, southern zone, the population stopped traffic and painted protest slogans on the asphalt.
The mobilization also took place in municipalities in Greater São Paulo, such as Itapevi, where residents burned tires and closed one of the main access roads to the Amador Aguiar neighborhood.
In Cotia, the blockade took place on Estrada da Represinha, entrance to the Quinta dos Angicos neighborhood; and in Santo André, in the Jardim Clube de Campo district. In Cajamar, the Anhanguera highway was closed. In Embu das Artes, also in the metropolitan region, the demonstration was led by Mayor Hugo Prado (Republicans), who camped in front of an Enel building.
No more days in the dark
Enel said this Saturday morning that it intends to restore energy supplies to those affected by the outage by the end of this Sunday (14/12). The information came after the court determined, Friday evening, that the company would resolve the situation for all consumers within 12 hours, under penalty of a fine of R$200,000 per hour.
The company claims that the wind storm that hit the concession area was the longest ever recorded in the region and that, according to data from the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet), since measurements began in 2006, “this is the first time that the Mirante de Santana meteorological station has recorded such a prolonged sequence of winds exceeding 70 km/h in the city of São Paulo.”
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“Adverse weather conditions had a significant impact on restaurant operations as continued gusts caused further outages as crews worked to reconnect customers,” the utility says.
The company also claims to have mobilized a record number of teams in the field since Wednesday morning, reaching nearly 1,800 teams throughout the day on Thursday. “Thanks to the connections and reconnections made so far, the company has been able to restore service to approximately 3.1 million customers affected by the storm, thanks to automation systems and the intensive work of teams on the ground,” he says.
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