Iberdrola's legal battle against Redeia over the massive blackout is reignited

BarcelonaThe legal battle between Iberdrola and Redeia, the parent company of Red Eléctrica (REE), the system operator, over the massive blackout of April 28th of last year, has been reignited. A Madrid court has accepted the complaint for unfair competition filed by the electricity company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán, alleging that Redeia, although not explicitly naming it, held it responsible for the blackout, according to reports. El País-Cinco Días And ARA has been able to confirm this.

Although blame for the power outage was officially shared, mutual accusations between the different parties began practically from the moment of the blackout. The president of Redeia, Beatriz Corredor, publicly stated on more than one occasion that the complete power outage occurred because some large electricity companies had not yet brought some of their power plants up to standard.

For their part, the companies asserted that REE, whose main shareholder is the State through SEPI, was to blame for failing to adequately control the voltage of the grid. Endesa also points the finger at REE. The CEOs of both companies, José Bogas (Endesa) and Mario Ruiz-Tagle (Iberdrola), reiterated this last week in the Senate.

But Corredor continues to blame the electricity companies. She was even more emphatic during an appearance before a Senate inquiry committee last September, asserting that REE (Red Eléctrica de España) made no mistakes and that none of its equipment failed. She placed the origin of the entire situation in the failure of a photovoltaic plant in Badajoz. Although the president of Redeia did not name names, the sector confirmed that she was referring to a plant owned by Iberdrola. This company then filed two lawsuits: one against the system operator, REE, and the other against its president. The first, for unfair competition, alleging that Corredor's statements were false and damaged the company's reputation. This lawsuit has been accepted for processing.

The other one, which is in the preliminary phase, accuses the president of Redeia of attacking the honor of IberdrolaThey are demanding a conciliation attempt, which, for now, has not yet been scheduled. If that attempt fails, they will resort to the courts.