Minister Pardow meets with SERNAC and ACHM to explain compensation processes for power outages

This is an automatic translation of the original release issued in Spanish.

PRESS RELEASE from the Ministry of Energy of Chile
August 2024

Authorities indicated that consumers could receive compensation payments in two ways. First, those corresponding to those established in the Electric Services Law that could be automatically reflected in the next electricity bill.

The second process is led by Sernac for the damage caused to customers under the Consumer Law due to the loss of food, electrical equipment, medicines, among other aspects.

The Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow, together with the director of the National Consumer Service (Sernac), Andrés Herrera, and the president of the Chilean Association of Municipalities (AChM), Carolina Leitao, provided details of the compensation processes for customers affected by power outages in various regions of the country. After the meeting, the Secretary of State indicated that through the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels ( SEC ) they are working on an automatic compensation mechanism for the energy not supplied during this episode within the framework of the Electric Services Law. “Distribution companies were instructed to send the billing data every two weeks this month so that it can be reflected in a discount on the next bill,” he explained.

Pardow added that the delivery of this automatic compensation is parallel to and is not an obstacle to the compensation process that Sernac is carrying out within the framework of the Consumer Law for the comprehensive reparation of people for the loss of food, electrical equipment, medicines, among other aspects.

In this regard, the national director of Sernac reported that the Voluntary Collective Procedure (PVC) with the electric company ENEL has already begun, and it is expected that within a limited period of time a solid proposal will be achieved that will take charge of the damages caused to the thousands of affected customers.

"Technical meetings with ENEL have already begun and we hope to quickly move forward with a comprehensive compensation proposal, which must include a series of variables, in addition to the inconvenience, the loss of food, electrical equipment, medicines, among other aspects," stressed the National Director.

Herrera said that this process seeks a quick and effective solution for customers, whose compensation will be determined according to time periods, considering the duration of the outage and the residential consumption of each family, but which could exceed $150,000 for those who have been without electricity for five days or more.

For her part, the president of the AChM stressed that there is a commitment on the part of the municipalities to wait for the procedures carried out by Sernac with the different companies, since it is a more expeditious procedure, and that they will contribute to the claims that the neighbors may present, for which forms will be available to formalize them, but that, in the event of not achieving an adequate proposal through a Voluntary Collective Procedure, the way forward will be the presentation of a collective lawsuit.

Finally, Minister Pardow pointed out that, in addition to the payment of compensation, the focus today remains on restoring the service. “There are still 5,000 people without supply in the Metropolitan Region and we ask them to take into consideration that it is also necessary to focus on compensation, but without prejudice to that, we will continue monitoring that the service is restored as soon as possible.”