The Chilean government fined Italian electricity distributor Enel’s local unit $19 million on Wednesday over extended power outages in 2024.
In a statement, the government said it was fining the company over four infractions after heavy storms at the end of the Southern Hemisphere winter last August led to extended power outages, in some cases lasting more than 15 days.
Chile’s SEC electrical regulator body said the company failed to properly maintain its infrastructure, took too long to restore power, failed to hand over information to the government and didn’t have an adequate system to receive customer complaints or outage reports.
The SEC noted it was also carrying out a separate investigation, and sanction process, into the Enel unit in relation to the outages.
“We hope that not just Enel, but all companies, see that they need to comply with regulations and understand that in Chile nobody is above the law,” Energy Minister Diego Pardow said in the statement.
Marta Cabeza, head of the SEC, said she hoped the fine would encourage Enel to improve its service and take necessary steps to prevent similar outages in the 2025 winter season.
Enel’s local unit in Chile did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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