The CNMC warns that it may impose multimillion-dollar fines if it detects serious violations due to the power outage.

MadridIn addition to the potential compensation that citizens and companies may claim for the massive power outage on April 28, the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) could impose "multi-million-dollar" fines if it detects a serious or very serious violation at the root of the incident. This was warned by the organization's president, Cani Fernández, who announced that the agency has already begun investigating what happened that day that caused the Iberian Peninsula to be without power for hours. In fact, the day after the blackout, the Competition Commission announced that it was monitoring the events and was opening the door to "carrying out the relevant actions in accordance with the supervisory function entrusted to it."

During her appearance before the Economic Committee of the Congress of Deputies on Tuesday, Fernández explained that the agency has already begun requesting information from all parties involved in order to "reconstruct the events with sufficient technical precision." If the conclusions reached by the Competition Authority demonstrate that serious or very serious violations occurred, disciplinary proceedings will be opened, which, as stipulated in the sanctioning regime, could result in fines of up to €60 million, the president of the agency explained. She also noted that the Competition Authority may adopt measures such as disqualifications or the obligation to restore or compensate for general damages to the system.

Fernández recalled that the Spanish government must submit its report on the power outage to the European coordination group Entso-e within three months, and that this body has six months to publish an initial report on the events (the final report is not expected until 2026). Fernández refrained from ruling out any hypothesis, including a cyberattack, and stated that although there was a high level of renewable energy generation on April 28, "no anomaly or particularity that could alone explain the incident" was observed. In any case, the president of the entity has focused on issues such as improving electrical interconnections with France as an element that can help in stressful situations.

The Competition Authority has also indicated that beyond clarifying the causes of the blackout, the entity will prepare a report with recommendations, results, and proposals that will not be limited to the electricity system but will also address other sectors, such as telecommunications and rail transport.

Power grid remuneration

However, the president of the CNMC has acknowledged that the investigation into the power outage coincides with the review of the remuneration rate for the transmission network (Red Eléctrica) and the electricity distribution network (distribution companies such as Endesa and Iberdrola) for the period 2026-2031. Alarm bells have rung in the electricity sector when it has been leaked that these rates could be reduced, according to a report published by the Spanish Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM). The Economist. "We are analyzing and discussing it," said Fernández, who made it clear that "under no circumstances" will it be a rate lower than the current one: 5.58 percent.

It should be remembered that the transmission and distribution network business is a regulated activity. The companies that carry it out invest to improve and adapt these networks based on a limit set by law and are then compensated for these investments through access tolls, which all customers ultimately assume. Hence the sensitivity of the debate. In the eyes of the electricity sector, at a time when this infrastructure must be adapted to the penetration of more renewables, as well as to the electricity demand of some specific sectors, a rate reduction makes no sense because it represents a thorn in the side of investment.