Enel São Paulo concession review stalls as regulators weigh service failures against disruption risks

Enel São Paulo concession review stalls as regulators weigh service failures against disruption risks
Brazil’s electricity regulator, Aneel, has delayed a recommendation to the federal government on whether to terminate Enel São Paulo’s concession, after director Gentil Nogueira requested additional time to examine the case. The review pauses a preliminary 2–0 vote in favor of advancing a caducity proceeding, with up to 60 days for the matter to return to the board’s agenda.

The two directors who voted to proceed, case rapporteur Agnes Maria de Aragão da Costa and Ludimila Lima da Silva, frame the issue as one of persistent operational shortcomings rather than a single weather-related failure. Costa said Enel remained responsible for taking every possible step to reduce the impact of extraordinary events, a task she said the distributor had proved unable to carry out. She added that opening a concession-termination process was not an abrupt break from the regulator’s previous actions, because less severe measures had already failed to improve performance.

The proceeding follows blackouts across greater São Paulo in 2023, 2024 and 2025. One storm last December left about 4.2 million properties without electricity, with some areas waiting three days for service to return. Aneel says its assessment considers the severity of weather events alongside the company’s preparedness, response and capacity to restore supply.

Enel contests the possible termination, saying it has taken steps to improve service and attributing part of the disruption to extreme weather. It also disputes Aneel’s assessment criteria. The contrast is central to the pending decision: regulators argue that climate events do not remove the duty to prepare and respond, while the company presents those events as a significant driver of the outages.

Even if Aneel ultimately recommends termination, the Ministry of Mines and Energy would make the final decision. The Federal Court of Accounts has urged the ministry and regulator to examine alternatives that would limit consequences for customers, underscoring the stakes for the roughly 8.5 million consumer units served by the concession.

https://brazil-test-hub.syndichain.com Brazil News Hub brazil-test-hub brazil-test-hub