Faced with the threat of losing a contract in São Paulo, Enel sent a message to all 94 state deputies to provide information on its operations in the capital and show a letter sent to the Ministry of Mines and Energy demanding flexibility from the municipality of São Paulo when it comes to tree pruning.
The concessionaire sent an email on Wednesday (17) to the 94 deputies titled “Clarifications from Enel on climate events in São Paulo”, in which it commits to hiring 1,600 professionals by 2027 and defends investments in grounding of wires.
The message was sent a day after the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD), announced that he would begin the process of terminating the contract with the São Paulo company. The announcement was made alongside Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) and Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) following the December 10 power outage that left more than 2 million properties without power.
At the ministry, Enel said it has published more than 15,000 reports on the risk of falling trees in São Paulo and shared the data with the city hall and the Secretariat of Sub-Prefectures. Of the total, according to the company, only 74 trees were cut down.
Enel is responsible for pruning trees that pass through the electrical wiring, due to the risk of shock, while the management of others is the responsibility of the Town Hall. The company and Nunes’ management are engaged in a narrative battle amid energy shortage crises, with one holding the other accountable for what action to take.
The town hall accuses the company of having carried out only 11% of the tree prunings – which the company disputes, which claims to have carried out around 230,000 of the 282,000 promised cuts.
“It should be noted that during the last weather event on December 25, 145 fallen trees were identified and examined in the network, a historical record, corresponding to 21% of the total number of fallen trees during the 15 months of the project. Of the 145 trees, 62 were on the opposite side of the street where the electricity network is located,” says an excerpt from the letter sent by Enel.
In the message sent to the ministry – but also to deputies – the concessionaire asks the Town Hall to quickly analyze the reports on the trees.
The Municipal Secretariat of Sub-Prefectures affirms that the documents shared by Enel do not meet the technical standard required by municipal legislation and that there is incorrect information in the texts. Furthermore, it indicates that during a meeting with the concessionaire it was agreed that it was necessary to fell only 25 trees.
“Due to the strong winds of 12/10, the São Paulo City Hall recorded 438 tree falls. Of this number, only 3 were listed by Enel as presenting a risk of falling. In other words, if the Secretariat of the Sub-Prefectures had removed the 15 thousand trees indicated by Enel, the number of falls would have been 435, which still characterizes an extreme meteorological event”, said the ministry said in the report.
Alesp approved in 1996, under the administration of Mário Covas (PSDB), a plan to privatize several companies, including Eletropaulo, focused on electric energy. The privatization was completed three years later and Enel took over the concession in 2018.
Enel has already been the target of an ICC within Alesp itself, which has suffered from power cuts on several occasions – one of the power cuts in Parliament occurred during the company president’s testimony before the commission in 2023.
“The CPI identified structural flaws in the management of the dealership, such as a reduction in operational staff, lack of preventive maintenance, logistical problems, failures in communication with consumers and the absence of an effective repayment plan. These problems cause predictable weather events to turn into protracted crises,” MP Thiago Auricchio (PL), who proposed and chaired Enel’s CPI, told the Panel.
“The investments announced must be analyzed in the light of the results delivered to the population, which continues to face power cuts, delays in restoring service and non-compliance with court decisions. Formal compliance with indicators does not replace the real quality of service,” added the MP.
PRESENT LINK: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access seven free accesses from any link per day. Just click on the blue F below.
About The Author
