In the end, nothing will happen with Enel’s abuse and inefficiency

Brief words and technical explanations are the only things that the transnational private company is giving to hundreds of thousands of citizens who have spent four days without electricity…and some even longer. As with other service consortiums, the impunity that Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve spoke of is what prevails. Enel will continue to operate, making multimillion-dollar profits, and there is no State that can put the company in order.

Joaquin Gonzalez. Journalist. “The Century”. Santiago. 6/8/2024The private and transnational company ENEL was unable to guarantee electricity service to more than a million people and left a quarter of a million without power for four days, causing serious problems in homes, businesses, hospitals and services.

The company only provides brief words and technical explanations, and its spokesperson even goes so far as to place the responsibility on the customers, “because they should let us know that they are without electricity, otherwise we would not know.”

This is another of the many examples in Chile of abuse and poor service by large private companies. And as occurs with other service consortiums, the impunity that Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve spoke of is what prevails. Because the blame lies with the climate, the rains, the wind, the municipalities, the ministries, the laws, but never with the company.

The massive power outages of the last few days affected between 1.2 million and 1.7 million people in the Metropolitan Region. At the time of writing, between 60,000 and 90,000 people were still without power.

People reported that when calling ENEL’s emergency phone number, the delay in answering was from 10 to 30 minutes and at the end a recording with brief words came out and the connection was cut off. The capabilities of the transnational company were not enough and there are serious doubts about whether it has the investment in capacities to deal with emergencies such as those that occur in Chile. People are very aware that in these months, in addition, their electricity bills will increase.

Energy Minister Diego Pardow told the press that municipalities and certain ministries cannot be blamed for the suspension of electricity supplies, given that the private sector is not prepared. Several mayors protested the inefficiency and lack of empathy of ENEL and rejected being blamed for the massive power cuts. As if that were not enough, the government said that the private sector provided “openly false” information regarding sectors and families without electricity.

As of Tuesday, there were lawsuits against the General Electricity Company (CGE), which is supposed to provide electricity to rural communities. Several legislators filed complaints with the Superintendency of Energy and Fuels (SEC). The creation of an Investigative Commission is being analyzed in Congress to determine the causes and responsibilities for the massive power outages in communities of the capital. There are also efforts to file class actions with Sernac (National Consumer Service) to compensate people affected by the power outages. There are complaints and demands from the Chilean Association of Municipalities (AchM), mayors of the Metropolitan Region and the Metropolitan Governor.

All this is happening as legislators and economists report the rise in the cost of electricity, which has increased by an average of 30%, although it was also noted in recent days that there are people who have seen their electricity bills rise by up to 200%.

“We believe it is urgent that the State, through its respective bodies – the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels (SEC) and the Ministry of Energy – accelerate the inspection and sanctioning processes against the company ENEL, which has demonstrated its inability and inefficiency in managing the emergency,” said the general secretary of the Unitary Workers’ Union (CUT), Eric Campos.

The multi-union organisation demanded that the Government move forward with a complete review of the concession contracts with ENEL, evaluating the possibility of ending the tender if the company’s incompetence is proven.

In this regard, Eric Campos stated that “the emergency has highlighted the urgency of reviewing the legislation on basic service concessions. It is unacceptable that these decisions are left to the discretion of private companies that prioritize cost reduction and increased profits at the expense of users, instead of ensuring the full and safe delivery of services.”