Agency says Rio Grande do Sul could suffer blackout in winter.

Rio Grande do Sul 247 - The chairman of the State Agency for the Regulation of Delegated Public Services of RS (Agergs), Carlos Martins, stated, this Tuesday (18), that Rio Grande do Sul runs the risk of suffering a new blackout if this year's winter is very harsh. According to him, there was a 59% increase in the number of complaints regarding the state's energy service. From mid-December to mid-February, there were 16 consumer complaints compared to 10 in the previous two months.

"We don't have a lack of energy, but problems distributing it," said the official. During a public hearing at the Municipal Affairs Committee of the Legislative Assembly, Martins said that the state was not prepared for the high energy consumption of the summer, which broke heat records and had more storms than expected. The information is from the newspaper Zero Hora.

According to him, the three main concessionaires in the state (AES Sul, CEEE, and RGE) had satisfactory service levels until December of last year. However, in January of this year, the companies were unable to meet the high demand for energy.

CEEE reported that illegal connections made by people who are not consumers, known as "gatos" (cats), represent 30% of consumption, but the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) only tolerates 15%. According to CEEE, the company's main problem is these non-technical connections, representing a difficulty in investment capacity.

Martins also reported that Agergs will only be able to maintain efficient oversight of the electricity distribution system if it increases its staff. "Agergs is no longer able to carry out inspections with its current staff," he stated.