ENRE warns that there will be massive power outages in the summer and foresees sanctions

In it, the regulatory body recommends to the authorities in charge of energy supply remove the concession to the distribution company in the face of “repeated and serious contractual breaches.” It follows from the Resolution 857/2023in which the entity in charge of Martello ratified the decisive conclusions of the comprehensive audit to Edesurwhich began after the massive and extensive power outages that occurred last summer.

For ENRE, there are significant issues that justify the conclusion of the audit. One of them is the “recurrent non-compliance” with the investment plans and the concession contract that compromise the “normal” provision of the service. Likewiseo, highlights that Edesur customers will inevitably suffer service cuts during the summer which comes due to the low amount ofand crews available to repair the failures and poor condition of Edesur’s networks and facilitiesthis, “due to lack of works and investments.”

Summer: inevitable power cuts

Power outages will continue, according to ENRE, due to the high occupancy of facilities in AT/AT, AT/MT and MT/MT and their respective links that denote systemic fragility to meet demand peaks in certain areas of the concession repeatedly.

• The obsolescence of critical infrastructure generates a vulnerability in the services offeredincreasing costs in both preventive and corrective maintenance.
• Exists a significant lack of responsiveness to user requestsas well as a shortage of technical equipment to address claims in both low voltage (LV) and medium voltage (MT).
• Prolonged or recurring interruptions considerably exceed the limits established by the concession contract, affecting the quality of the service offered.

At the end of the report, the ENRE specialists indicated that “after evaluating the capacity and condition of the facilities, the demonstrated effectiveness in specific situations, and the technical management carried out, it is concluded that “The company lacks sufficient resources to guarantee the electricity supply on a regular basis.”.

Given this perspective, the audit determines that “it is unfeasible to continue with the Edesur concession, given that the short-term investment needs and the delay in its execution show the lack of actions by the concessionaire to provide the service under adequate conditions”.

ENRE: the lapidary conclusions of the Edesur audit

“The system works at the limit, in an over-demanded way, under the constant threat that any minor failure can escalate and trigger a massive blackout for an indefinite period of time,” Martello said in the introduction of the document. The audit points out the following deficiencies as the main ones:

• Lack of facilities capable of satisfying the vertical and horizontal growth of the demand for electrical energy in the concession area.
• Precarious quality of service, from outages whose duration sometimes exceeds 24 hours in a row, and a user service system that forces complaints to be reiterated without success.
• Short-termism in decision-making, which undermines any structural optimization project for the service.

The decision to carry out an audit of Edesur originated from the record of power outages that residential users suffered during the first quarter of this year. Through ENRE Resolution No. 236/2023, Comptroller Martello ordered the formation of a technical team, dedicated to analyzing three fundamental aspects of the provision of this distributor: primary care; preventive maintenance and investments, and costs and investments.

According to official sources, the final work was sent to Congress and the Ministry of Energy of the Nation, which heads Flavia Royón. “The intention is that this report can serve as input for political action on decision-making regarding the company. The distributor, according to Article 3 of its Concession Contract, has a term of 95 years, ending in 2087, so it is being sought whether this is convenient for the interests of the State and the users,” official sources commented.