After the Government’s announcement about the privatization of dams, Neuquén initiated a claim to the Nation for hydroelectric royalties

After the Government published Decree 895/2024 published in the Official Gazette with which it will advance the privatization process of four dams, the Governor of Neuquén Rolando Figueroa announced that it will claim through the provincial State Attorney the payment of hydroelectric royalties owed by the Nation, among other points. Meanwhile in Río Negro the administration of Alberto Weretilneck He opted for silence.

“We owe a lot to the people of Neuquén with the hydroelectric royalties. Therefore, by virtue of the liquefaction of the royalties that different national governments have generated, I promise to file a claim today so they can start paying us.. They are going to have to pay us all the royalties to the province of Neuquén in kind so that the people of Neuquén have electricity as we deserve and at the value that we generate it,” said Figueroa at an event for the 83rd anniversary of the town. from Mariano Moreno, in the center of the province, 20 kilometers from Zapala.

This morning it was learned that the Government advances in the privatization of four power plants and called for a national and international public tender for the sale of the share package controlling of Alicurá Hidroeléctrica Argentina SA, Chocón Hidroeléctrica Argentina SA, Cerros Colorados Hidroeléctrica SA and Piedra del Águila Hidroeléctrica Argentina SA within the framework of the Bases law.

Both Figueroa and his Rio Negro counterpart Alberto Weretilneck had been demanding that the Government join them in the negotiations for the tenders for the hydroelectric plants of the Limay and Neuquén riversfor the renewal of the concessions granted during the mandate of Carlos Menem and that expired last year, but have been extended since the administration of Alberto Fernández. Even in September, both governors had a meeting with the Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos and the Secretary of Energy, Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo. However, the claim, the provinces believe, was ignored.

The publication in the Official Gazette The decree – which bears the signatures of Javier Milei, Francos and the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo – came one day after the Government managed to shield the veto of the university financing law in Congress. In the chamber of deputies, both Agustín Domingo (Río Negro) and Osvaldo Llancafilo (Neuquén) voted against the veto, with a direct connection with Weretilneck and Figueroa, respectively.

In this framework, the leaders asked that the specifications be adapted to provincial regulations, especially in environmental terms and water management. And they claimed why recognize another value of royalties, which today has a low tax base. This year, the Neuquén Legislature even approved a fee for the use of water, as it is a provincial resource. Thus, Figueroa keeps an ace up his sleeve to negotiate.

So far, the share package of these four companies is owned by ENARSA and NASA, 98% and 2%, on a “transitory” basis until the produces the transfer of said share packages to the private sector through a national and international public competition.

Other claims

“Yesterday I was in Buenos Aires demanding some works that are necessary for Neuquén, since the national government made the decision not to carry out any more works. We still sign an agreement so that some works can be executed. One of them was the electrification of the southern zone of our province and also supplying gas to the southern zone of our province,” Figueroa also said. “Today Villa La Angostura is not linked to the national energy ring, today Villa La Angostura does not have ability to generate greater expansion in gas. Since April 2023, the province of Neuquén has not received contributions from the national government,” he added.

He also requested the completion of the La Rinconada bridge over the Collon Curá river, which connects the south of the province (Junín and San Martín de Los Andes). “Because we are from Neuquén, because we are Patagonian, it seems that some look from the obelisk and are seized by myopia,” he concluded, with questions to Milei.