Sumar calls for more public participation in Red Eléctrica

BarcelonaThe Minister of Culture and spokesperson for Sumar, Ernest Urtasun, reiterated this Friday that he is committed to a reform that involves "greater public participation" in Red Eléctrica, while strongly warning that his party will not allow the closure schedule for nuclear power plants to be altered, since, in his opinion, they are not "the la la."

Urtasun has called for the investigation to "go all the way" to clarify the causes of Monday's massive blackout, and whether Red Eléctrica or the energy operators were at fault. In this regard, he noted that the company chaired by Beatriz Corredor was privatized by the Popular Party government of José María Aznar in the late 1990s, and that the public sector currently holds a stake of around 20% "in a very profitable company," the profits of which are not being reinvested in the grid.

"We are in favor of Red Eléctrica having more public participation. I think this is fundamental," the minister argued in an interview on La Sexta, where he explained that the company manages the grid, but is also the transmission company of electricity, two functions "that in other countries are separate" and "generate contradictory needs."

In this regard, he reiterated that the most important thing for Sumar is that "SEPI recovers positions of public participation" and that this money is not taken by, for example, BlackRock, "which has 4.9% of the shares of Red Eléctrica", but that it is invested in more capacities where more capacity produces blackouts."

In fact, the blackout has become a partisan and ideological battle. The PP has criticized the socialist government as a result of the event. This Friday it was the president of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, who criticized the "lack of transparency" and the "obscurantism" with which Pedro Sánchez's government acts regarding the power outage. "Five days have already passed and we still know nothing, and that is scandalous; "It not only demonstrates the inability to manage of the Sánchez government, of the Socialist Party government, but also an opacity, a lack of transparency, and an obscurity that makes us suspect the worst," he said. The PP has called for an "independent international audit" to determine the causes of the blackout. From Pontevedra, the party's leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, criticized the fact that four days after the blackout, the Spanish government has still not "provided explanations" and accused it of "hiding information to create a narrative that benefits them." "They have subjected the Spanish people to international ridicule and we want to know the causes," he demanded. Feijóo said that "a developed country cannot be left without energy or telecommunications" and criticized Sánchez for "blaming others." "The government has lost its way and is in a terrible situation, but it is not our responsibility," he criticized.

From the Spanish government, the Socialists have defended themselves against the accusations. The Minister of Science and leader of the PSPV (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Diana Morant, assured that the government "will pursue the truth" regarding the causes of the massive blackout in Spain last Monday, through a rigorous investigation, and urged the PP to exercise "caution" instead of asking for the resignation of the president of Red Eléctrica, Beatriz Corredor.

For his part, the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Relations, Fèlix Bolaños, has assured that the central government "is in no hurry" to determine the cause of the blackout, but rather wants to investigate with "rigor." "The reality is that we are in no hurry to determine the cause; rather, what we want is to work with rigor and precision," he stated on Spanish National Television (TVE). He made this clear after chairing a session of the situation committee on Friday to analyze the causes of the power outage that affected a large part of the Iberian Peninsula on Monday. In this regard, he indicated that "it's not so important" to find out "in a hurry," but rather that it be done "with great rigor." "We are conducting this investigation into the causes of the blackout in a very professional manner and that we know with absolute precision what will happen," he said.

Follow-up with Portugal

This Friday, the governments of Spain and Portugal agreed to create a monitoring group to identify the cause of the power outage. This was agreed upon by the Vice President of the Spanish Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, and the Portuguese Minister of Environment and Energy, María da Graça Carvalho, during a virtual meeting also attended by the Secretaries of State for Energy of both countries.

"We have been able to share a collaboration that began from day one," Aagesen noted in assessing the meeting, adding: "Not only a collaboration of data exchange, but of collaborating to identify the incident, the cause, and above all, to implement the necessary measures to prevent it from happening again." The Minister of Ecological Transition added that the group will be led by herself and the Portuguese minister, in addition to the presence of both Secretaries of State for Energy.

Amancio Ortega, Red Eléctrica's largest private shareholder

And in the midst of the massive blackout, it was announced this Friday that Amancio Ortega (the richest man in Spain and the main shareholder of Inditex) has become the largest private shareholder of Red Eléctrica, the electricity system operator. With this move, the fund manager cedes the position of largest private shareholder to Amancio Ortega, through his company Pontegadea Inversiones, with 5%. Redeia's largest shareholder is the State, with 20% through SEPI.