The announcement of the beginning of the expiry process of Enel’s contract in São Paulo became an arena of political dispute with a view to the 2026 presidential elections, revealing tensions between the different spheres of government involved in the case. Information is from Clarissa Oliveira at Live CNN.
On Tuesday (16), the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, the state governor, Tarcísio de Freitas, and the minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, jointly announced that the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) will begin the process to stop energy in the capital of São Paulo.
“However, we see an extremely harsh speech from Tarcísio and Nunes in relation to the federal government and the Ministry of Mines and Energy”, highlights the Policy analyst at CNN. “Behind the scenes there is a protagonism disputedespite the joint scene we saw at the press conference.”
Politicians in the capital of São Paulo privately argue that the federal government would be prolonging Enel’s stay and that the expiry process should have already started after the first major episodes of power interruptions in the city.
Political dispute amid the energy crisis
The process to end the contract with Enel could take up to a year to complete, during which time the issue tends to be politically exploited. There is a perception that, when things cool down momentarily and weather conditions improve, the topic may take a backseat, but it will certainly will return with force during election campaigns.
Behind the scenes, representatives of the state government and São Paulo city hall bring the narrative that “it was pressure from São Paulo that forced the federal government to give in”, suggesting that there was supposed protection of the Enel contract by the federal authorities.
Clarissa Oliveira assesses that , which directly affects millions of consumers, has thus become a political showcase for potential candidates for the 2026 election, with each sphere of government seeking to politically capitalize on popular dissatisfaction with the services provided by the Italian concessionaire.
