The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, stated this Tuesday that the energy distributor of the Italian company Enel has lost the ability to continue operating in São Paulo and that the federal government will ask the regulatory agency to initiate a process of expiring the company’s concession.
Silveira said that Enel has lost the ability to continue operating, including from a reputational point of view, referring to the blackout in the metropolitan region of São Paulo last week, when the passage of an extratropical cyclone damaged the energy supply to millions of consumers served by the Italian distributor.
The minister made the statements after meeting, this Tuesday, with the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, and the state governor, Tarcísio de Freitas, to discuss the matter.
Continues after advertising
When contacted, Aneel said she would not comment. Enel had no immediate comment.
It was not immediately clear what the implications of the minister’s speech were, who last year made a similar statement after another major episode of power outages in São Paulo following an extreme weather event.
In general, forfeiture is an alternative evaluated only after a subpoena, in a process that guarantees the company’s right to defense.
The regulatory agency has previously summoned Enel São Paulo, due to the distributor’s actions being considered insufficient to restore energy services following extreme weather events in the last two years.
The summons to Enel began to be evaluated by Aneel’s board of directors last month, but the decision was postponed due to a request for review.
