Enel Rushes to Fend Off Chile Concession Scrap After Storm
(Bloomberg) -- Enel SpA is facing the threat of losing a concession in Chile after a storm hit the country last week, leaving many households without electricity.
Most Read from Bloomberg
How a Tiny Midwestern Town Became a Mecca for Modern Architecture
Africa’s Richest City Needs $12 Billion to Fix Infrastructure
In DNC, Chicago’s Embattled Transit System Faces a High-Profile Test
Chile’s government started an “expiration process” for Enel’s energy distribution concession, which will go ahead unless the Italian company restores minimum power to 20,000 households within 24 hours, Energy Minister Diego Pardow said in video posted on X. He called this an “ultimatum.”
Enel Chile shares fell to the lowest level in 14 months at opening on Thursday.
Some 95,443 clients were still without energy, according to an Enel statement on Tuesday.
Enel is one of the largest electricity companies in Chile, with more than 2 million clients. The government granted Enel unlimited rights to distribute energy to 33 districts in the Metropolitan Region, a densely populated zone which includes the capital Santiago.
Enel also sent technicians from its operations in Brazil, Colombia and Argentina as a first emergency response and said it’s working to fix faults generated by weather events, according to the company’s local website. In a separate statement, the company said it started to assess voluntary compensation for affected customers, on top of repayments required by law.
The country accounted for about 5% of Enel’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization globally in the first half of the year, totaling €543 million ($594 million).
--With assistance from Antonio Vanuzzo.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
