The SEC explained that the sanction is due to the lack of maintenance that caused a major impact on the number of customers without supply in August of last year.

Chile's Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels (SEC) announced a historic fine of $19 billion (US$18.8 million) against Enel Distribución, in response to the prolonged power outages that occurred in August 2024, affecting thousands of families for more than 15 days.

In conversation with Radio Bío Bío, the Superintendent of Electricity and Fuels, Marta Cabeza, detailed the main reasons behind the sanction.

"The sanctioning has to do with the non-compliance of four relevant aspects. One of them is the lack of maintenance, which caused a great impact on the number of customers without supply at that time," he explained.

He added that the sanctions also included prolonged power outages, a lack of information for decision-making by the authorities and the lack of customer service channels.

The superintendent stressed that this fine should serve as an example for electricity companies to fulfil their responsibility to guarantee a continuous and safe supply.

"We hope that this sanction will motivate the company to comply with its regulatory obligations and that we will not experience another winter with the deficit that they showed during 2024," he said.

Regarding President Gabriel Boric's announcement on the possible expiration of Enel's concession, Cabeza explained that the SEC is developing a technical-legal study to assess the company's comprehensive regulatory compliance, which could take between 6 and 18 months.

It is worth mentioning that there is also a pending sanctioning process related to violations of the Law on Electrode-Dependent Patients, an investigation that is still underway and whose results will be announced as soon as this process is completed.