SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Half a million consumers in Latin America’s largest city are still without electricity three days after a violent gale knocked down power lines and caused a blackout, the distributor owned by Enel SpA said on Monday.
The delay in resumption of power supplies has led to criticism of the distributor from politicians and authorities, with calls to cancel the concession.
Enel Sao Paulo said it would need time to restore parts of the electricity network that was damaged on Friday night by winds of more than 100 km/h. At least five people died in the storm that knocked over trees in the city’s streets.
Regulatory agencies Aneel and Arsesp said the company’s response to the storm was “much below expectations” and warned that they could recommend allowing Enel’s contract to expire.
Enel is facing similar criticism in Chile, whose government said in August it will study whether the Italian electricity distributor’s local unit meets the terms of its concession to operate in the country after thousands of customers were left without power following a storm.
According to Enel Sao Paulo, 537,000 consumers were still without electricity as of midday on Monday.
Blackouts that have occurred repeatedly since last year have angered Sao Paulo consumers and led authorities to fine the company for delays in restoring services.
Enel’s contingency plan calls for 2,500 people working to restore services in an extreme weather situation, but its field teams numbered 1,700 to 1,800 people 48 hours after the storm, Sao Paulo’s state regulator for utilities Arsesp said.
According to federal regulator Aneel, the company has been fined around 320 million reais since 2018, including 260 million reais related to extreme weather events since the end of last year, but payment was suspended by court order.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy criticized Aneel for the current crisis, saying that the regulator had failed to supervise the distributor.
Highlighting the weak response to the blackout, local media said more people were without electricity in Sao Paulo after the 15-minute storm than in Florida after Hurricane Milton.
(Reporting by Letícia Fucuchima; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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