2023-11-07 00:21:03
Two years ago, when the light in the state of Goiás was flickering like a firefly, irritating the population and causing losses to companies, Governor Ronaldo Caiado even talked to Aneel regarding the possibility of revoking the concession of CELG-D, the distributor of energy controlled by Enel.
At that time, however, many people in the private sector were opposed to the idea, arguing that an annulment would generate legal and regulatory instability.
In the end, Enel was not revoked – and it still came out on top: it sold CELG-D to Equatorial for R$1.6 billion in equity value, and passing on a debt of R$5.9 billion.
Now, even taking into account the severity of the climate event that occurred in São Paulo, the same operational weakness of Enel is on display in the country’s largest economy, with the delay in turning the energy back on.
Amid the confusion generated, a lot of nonsense has been said.
A respected commentator even said, regarding the situation in São Paulo, that the solution is to install solar panels in everyone’s home, “so that people can depend less on the distributor” – a statement that is comical because it ignores nature interconnection and the economic functioning of the electrical system.
The drama in São Paulo – where 500,000 people are still without electricity – also frightened the usual retrograde voices, who rose up to criticize privatization, as if the country would be better off if the telephone, the electricity grid and sewage treatment were still available. state-owned.
It’s a classic case of the righteous paying for sinners. The country has numerous quality companies in the electricity sector, which are generally recognized by the multiples at which they trade on the stock exchange. Enel, unfortunately, was never part of this club.
In addition to Goiás, and now São Paulo, the company also provides a below-average service in Ceará, where it owns Coelce, and in Rio, where it has Enel-Rio. In an Aneel ranking that measures the quality of service of the country’s 29 distributors, Enel SP ranks 19thª position, while Coelce and Enel-Rio are both in 23rd place.
The responsibility for monitoring and punishing bad operators is the obligation – and the very reason for existing – of Aneel, which, however, is unable to perform its functions well.
It has been many years since the old process of rigging regulatory agencies became a way of life once more in Brasília. The boards of Aneel, ANP, CADE and many other agencies created to supervise and regulate the private sector are frequently negotiated at the Congress desk – sometimes with well-known leaders, sometimes with anonymous lower clergy, but all with personal, parochial and, often, interests. , transactional.
The public interest – that diffuse entity, which at the end of the day means protecting Dona Maria and Seu José – has no godparents or lobbyists.
Until society understands that agencies exist to protect it – and that, as such, its composition cannot be traded like dry and wet – we will all remain in the dark, perhaps literally.
Geraldo Samor
1699348889
#São #Paulo #blackout #tree #blame
