“There was a lack of planning and it bordered on stupidity”, said the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, about Enel’s operations in São Paulo.
Due to the historic wind in the region, more than 500 thousand of the concessionaire’s customers were still without power this Monday morning (14).
Civil Defense recorded winds of 107.6 km/h in the capital of São Paulo, on Friday night (11). It is the strongest brand since 1995, according to the organization.
In a press conference this morning, the minister criticized Enel and highlighted the need for more people on the streets to restore energy operation.
“The problem is physical, there have to be people to be there. (It bordered on stupidity)… for her to think that expanding and modernizing to reduce people, without worrying about the urban issues, would solve the problem”, he said.
Silveira stated that, at this first moment, it is necessary to look for a solution to the problem. Afterwards, planning will be carried out to improve the quality of the distributor’s services.
“It is the sector that requires the most dedication, planning and has constant challenges. It leads us, every day, to see clearly the need to modernize public policies, supervision and adapt to the current climate issue”.
Regarding the contract with Enel, the minister said that severe weather events are excluded from the contractual assessment.
“In the distribution decree that Lula signed, these severe weather events cannot be expunged. In other words, distributors will be penalized if they do not have a forecast or plan to avoid this type of event.”
According to the minister, in a different contract, he is “absolutely convinced” that Enel would not be “as negligent as they unfortunately are in relation to the quality of service in São Paulo”.
At the press conference, he also said that he gave the company three days to restore most of the energy for customers in São Paulo.
THE CNN questioned Enel about the minister’s statements and is awaiting feedback.
Criticism of City Hall
The minister also criticized the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), about his actions to improve and prevent power outages in the city.
“The mayor of São Paulo learned quickly when he made a fake news that we do not deal with the renewal of Enel’s distribution. Enel expires its contract in 2028, it has until 2026 to express its opinion”, he said.
Silveira also stated: “in fact, there is still time for the mayor to worry about the urban issues of São Paulo. We don’t work with narratives, we work with facts. More than 50% of the events were caused by trees falling onto the medium and low voltage system in SP”.
The minister also said that municipalities that do not fulfill their responsibility to take care of urban issues, in synergy with the distribution sector, need to give distribution companies freedom to take care of it.
In an agenda this Monday (14), Mayor Ricardo Nunes stated that “there is absolutely no fault on the part of City Hall” in the blackout in the city.
(With information from Muriel Porfiro)
This content was originally published in “There was a lack of planning and it bordered on stupidity”, says minister about Enel on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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