President Boric Demands Action as Power Outage Persists in Metropolitan Region
President Gabriel Boric of Chile has instructed Energy Minister Diego Pardow to review Enel‘s concession following the company’s failure to restore power to 60,000 homes in the Metropolitan Region.
Boric confirmed this morning that he had requested the review after a meeting with government officials to discuss the company’s poor progress in replacing damaged power lines. The president characterized Enel’s performance as “seriously ineffective.”
Boric instructed Pardow to assess all potential sanctions against Enel, including the possibility of reviewing the company’s concession.
“We are issuing various fines and compensations for those affected, and we have arranged for state aid and generators for the most critical cases,” Boric said. “But those responsible for informing and restoring the service are the companies that have not been up to the task during this crisis.”
The president also demanded that power companies expedite compensation payments to affected customers.
Boric criticized Enel for its “serious and inexcusable breaches” of its obligations, citing violations of service restoration deadlines, commitments made during the emergency, crew deployment, and customer service standards.
The minister confirmed that the government is evaluating the possibility of terminating Enel’s concession, but offered no immediate announcement.
Despite Enel’s pledge to restore power to 60,000 customers, only 26,700 homes had their electricity restored, leaving over 80,000 customers without power in various municipalities.