Enre fines Transener US$600,000 for Nov. power cuts

Argentina's electricity regulator Enre has fined transmission company Transener 1.67mn pesos (today US$593,000) for power cuts in November, 2002, Enre said in a statement. A study commissioned by Enre and carried out by the University de la Plata found that poor maintenance by Transener was responsible for the failure of a high-tension transmission line and a transformer in the Comahue substation which cut power to 13 million people in and around capital city Buenos Aires for several hours on November 24, the source said. Enre was unable to levy the fine until now because it had to wait for President Nestor Kirchner's new administration to appoint the regulator's new board of directors, the source said, adding that an interim vice-president was appointed last week giving the board a quorum of three directors to make decisions. Transener must pay the fine within 30 days of being informed of the decision or appeal the fine to the energy secretary, the source said. At the time of the power cut, there was speculation by the press that the cut was the result of a deliberate action by Transener to protest the government's slow progress on rates increases. However, "that is a subjective interpretation because there were a lot of complaints about the rates at that time, but no one would assume that Transener would do something like that when they know the fine for that kind of thing would be much higher," the source said.