2023-09-11 13:19:13
A pedestrian crosses a street amid a strong waterspout in Pamplona.ALVARO BARRIENTOS (AP)
During the summer, power outages due to blackouts increase as it is the season of the year in which strong storms occur and when the demand for electricity skyrockets due to the use of air conditioning. Citizens and businessmen may find themselves returning from their holidays with damaged appliances and spoiled food due to a breakdown in the electricity supply that has caused them serious problems.
The last dana (acronym for isolated depression at high levels), increasingly common in the month of September, has caused intense rainfall and thunderstorms these days. Its virulence in certain geographical locations (Madrid and Toledo, mainly) has left a devastating trail.
At the end of July, an electrical blackout due to a fire at a thermal power station in La Gomera affected more than 15,000 customers of the company in charge of the supply, Endesa, and kept residents and companies without electricity for several days, who recorded large losses between food and other damaged belongings as well as the fact of keeping the businesses closed for a few days.
In mid-August, businessmen and residents of Jerez de la Frontera suffered a blackout in their homes and businesses for 10 hours.
Although it affects all of Spain, blackouts have a special impact on the archipelagos. In 2019 and 2020, Tenerife was left in the dark and the Government of the Canary Islands imposed a total fine of 16 million euros on the electricity company. In these cases, many of the facilities in the thermal power generation park are near the end of their useful life.
Electricity companies are required by law to provide quality service. When there is an interruption in the supply due to a blackout, those affected have right to claim and to receive compensation whenever certain circumstances occur. These are the keys that consumers should take into account.
Scheduled or unplanned interruption
It must be taken into account that the scheduled interruptions These are power cuts that are carried out to allow planned work on the network. They must be less than three minutes, according to Order ECO/797/2002, which approves the measurement and control procedure for the continuity of electricity supply, and affected consumers must be informed by the company 24 hours in advance by the placement of information posters located in visible places.
For their part, the unforeseen interruptions are all those greater than three minutes. They cannot exceed, neither in time nor in number, certain values that depend on the area where they occur. Thus, for urban areas, these cannot exceed 5 hours or 10 annual interruptions, while for rural areas the limit is 19 hours or 22 interruptions.
When any of these values are exceeded, both in number of interruptions and their duration, the company must Apply a discount up to a maximum of 10% on your annual bill, as well as compensation for damages caused by a blackout.
In the Community of Madrid, for example, it is established that supply companies, in the event of any incident, must restore the service within a maximum time of three hours when the incident affects 70% of the market and six hours when the incident affects 100 % From the market.
Blackouts without compensation
What power outages are not entitled to compensation? Electrical supply interruptions that do not give the right to claim or receive compensation are power outages caused by actions of third parties and caused by force majeuresuch as atmospheric phenomena.
In addition, cuts are exempt from compensation. scheduled and correctly notified by the distributor when the outage lasts less than three minutes.
What can be claimed?
The user has the right to compensation for blackout when the limits are exceeded. three minutes without poweralthough there has been a prior notice.
In relation to the blackout in La Gomera, Facua-Consumers in Action has recalled that neighbors and businessmen can claim the electricity company and demand compensation for the situation they have suffered.
The injured parties may claim for damages Issues such as food that has to be thrown away because the cold chain has been broken, broken electrical appliances, hotel nights that have to be hired to avoid sleeping without air conditioning and other exceptional situations such as cases that affect chronically ill people or people in need specials.
Patricia Martínez Díez, manager in the Litigation and Arbitration Area of Ceca Magán Abogados, remembers that businessmen can claim for lost profit when their businesses remain closed due to a power outage. But “it usually entails greater difficulty of proof, since it must be proven that the amount claimed corresponds to the benefit that has actually been lost” and it is essential to demonstrate that said financial loss derives from the unscheduled interruption of the electricity supply.
When the unscheduled interruption of electricity occurs on a day on which the establishment is closed to the public, this lost profit cannot be claimed because its existence cannot be proven.
Los courts go further when recognizing rights for damages produced by a blackout. The Provincial Court of Madrid in a recent judgment (access your content here) has estimated the responsibility of the electrical marketing company for the death of a woman who fell down the stairs home due to a second power outage while going to get a flashlight. The electricity company is responsible for the power outage that occurred when the woman had moved, without assuming any foreseeable risk, and was surprised by a new interruption of the electricity supply.
If there has been damage to electrical appliances or if you have lost all the food in the refrigerator, you must file a claim and demand compensation for these damages. In this case, the electric company has the right to verify that the damage has been caused by the blackout.
To be successful in the claim “it is imperative”, they assure from Facua, that keep all documents“including photographs”, that can prove the damages caused, especially the invoices for damaged electrical appliances as well as purchase receipts for deteriorated perishable products.
So that businessmen can document the existence of lost profits and their amount, Patricia Martínez recommends providing “an expert report” to prove the loss of profits or income that the company or business stops obtaining due to the blackout.
It is also convenient review home insurance policyr, since in some cases it covers the loss of food or breakdowns in appliances if there is a blackout or power cut.
If at the time of the supply interruption a purchase was being made online or booking a trip, it is convenient to check the email, as well as the bank account, to confirm that the purchase was made.
Way to claim
If you have suffered damage due to a power outage, you must first send a claim letter to Customer Service of the supplying company, providing a copy of all the documentation that may support the request for compensation.
If no response is obtained or it is unsatisfactory, the user can file a claim in the Consumer Information Office closest to your home or before the competent autonomous community, which has the powers to resolve doubts and verify the incident that allegedly caused the damage.
It must be remembered that if the cause of the interruption is programmed or due to force majeure, the company is not obliged to provide any compensation.
Insurance coverage
Insurance is the quickest and most effective way to claim for these damages compared to a claim with the electricity company.
Martínez recalls that as a “general rule, it is common for insurance policies to cover this type of damage, as long as it has not been caused by force majeure or a fortuitous event (a meteorological phenomenon), since in those cases, insurance usually excludes its coverage.”
If the insurer covers the damages because they are included in the policy, the procedure for compensating for the damages suffered is much faster than when a claim is made to the electricity company. Therefore, it is advisable to review the content of the insurance policies in order to analyze the viability of a possible claim.
Must take into account small letter. Insurance does not usually cover damage to food during periods in which the home has been uninhabited for more than eight consecutive days, even if the damage occurred in the first few days. In addition, many policies exclude appliances that are more than eight years old from their first sale to the public and when the electrical installation does not comply with current legal standards.
If you do not have this type of policy, it is necessary to claim damages from the supplying company.
Discount on invoice
In addition to responsibility for the damages caused, the electric company must offer those who have suffered a power outage a discount on the invoice that compensates for hours not enjoyed of the contracted energy supply service. The cuts can cause a breach of contract by the electricity company, which cannot evade its responsibility.
If the blackout has not been previously warned by the supply company with a minimum of 24 hours in advance, the law establishes a formula to calculate the corresponding discount on the invoice and which is found in Royal Decree 1634/2006 which establishes the electricity rate.
For this calculation, the number of hours that users have been without electricity or the number of interruptions in service must be taken into account.
From the Roams platform they remember that the law establishes a maximum period without supply, distinguishing between dispersed rural areas (municipality with less than 200 electricity supply points) whose maximum period of interruption is 19 hours per year. In concentrated rural areas (between 200 and 2,000 points) it is 14 hours a year; in semi-urban areas (from 2,000 to 20,000 points), nine hours a year and in urban areas (more than 20,000 supply points or provincial capitals) five hours of break per year.
Based on the previous parameters, a compensation for power outagewhich can never exceed 10% of your annual turnover.
The discount is made on the first three invoices of the year and it is not necessary to claim for a power outage. Distributors are required by law to make the discount, without any process on the part of the user.
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