The Constitutional Court annuls the prohibition of cutting off electricity to vulnerable Catalan families

BarcelonaA decade after it came into force, the Constitutional Court (TC) has annulled two articles of the 2015 Catalan law that prevents companies from cutting off basic supplies such as electricity and gas to vulnerable consumers. In its justification, the magistrates point out that the norm is incompatible with the state system of protection in case of non-payment due to necessity and, therefore, declares that the Parliament has overstepped its bounds and encroached on competences. The ruling does not, for now, mean immediate cut-offs, as there is a moratorium in force at the Spanish level that prevents these basic services from being cut off until December 31.

200,000 energy cut-offs for vulnerable familiesThe TSJC considered that two of the articles of the law were unconstitutional by preventing the cut-off after a period of fifteen days without municipal social services having issued a vulnerability report determining whether the person or family unit is in one of the situations of risk of residential exclusion that shields them from electricity and gas cut-offs. The Spanish norm, on the other hand, bases this consumer protection on the thresholds set by the electric voucher, which are more restrictive because they only take into account the income factor and not other social factors such as those provided for by the Catalan law, known as 24/2015. Furthermore, while the law approved by Parliament permanently prevents cut-offs if there is a vulnerability report, the Spanish law is temporary and, despite pressure from social entities to make it permanent, it will end on the last day of this year if a new extension is not approved at the last moment.

According to calculations by the Alliance against Energy Poverty (APE), in the first five years of the Catalan law's validity, approximately 200,000 energy cut-offs for vulnerable families were avoided. The regulation is the result of a popular legislative initiative by the APE and the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), which collected 150,000 signatures to protect Catalan consumers. For this reason, the leading entity describes the Constitutional Court's ruling as an "attack on popular sovereignty" and criticizes that the justice system has opted to dismantle an "effective tool" and, instead, "prioritize the interests of large energy companies." The APE has called on the Department of Social Rights to convene the Table against Energy Poverty to "agree on the next steps" to be taken to curb the impact.