E-Redes will send the number of customers without power due to bad weather to city councils, but the media are excluded from this informationaccording to an official company source. “The numbers per municipality will be disclosed to the Municipal Councils as soon as we have them”, an official source from E-Redes, the main operator of the electricity distribution network in mainland Portugal of high, medium and low voltage networks, told the Lusa agency.
The same official source said that “there are no numbers for the media per municipality”, with the company ensuring that “the number of customers with electricity restored is increasing”. “E-Redes, whenever it has available figures relating to the restoration of electricity nationwide and, specifically, in the areas most affected by the Kristin depression, will disclose to the media how it has been done so far”, he declared.
According to information sent this morning to the media, at 08:00 today the E-Redes had to supply around 66 thousand customers in the Kristin depression area and a total of 76 thousand customers throughout the mainland. On Saturday, the council and the 20 parish councils of Leiria criticized “the lack of objective, updated and accessible information” from E-Redes.
Reviews
In an open letter addressed to the president of the board of directors of E-Redes and read that day by the president of the Municipality of Leiria, Gonçalo Lopes, the subscribers recognize “the technical effort of the teams on the ground”, but they argue that, “in an emergency context, with E-Redes being an essential public service operator, communication, proximity and respect for populations are responsibilities as relevant as technical intervention”.
In this sense, the mayors of Leiria argue that “populations have the right to know the specific situation in each parish” or that “foreseeable deadlines are being considered for the restoration of the service”. Residents also have the right to know which “criteria guide intervention priorities, which technical constraints remain and which solutions are being adopted to overcome them and which mitigation measures are being implemented to support populations while replacement is not possible”, according to the open letter.
Today, the president of the Municipality of Marinha Grande (Leiria), Paulo Vicente, accused E-Redes of going backwards in restoring the electricity supply to the municipality. “This Sunday, February 8, 27% of the municipality’s population remains without electricity, which represents 6,812 customers still affected. On February 5th, around 15% of the municipality’s inhabitants were without electricity (approximately 3,900 customers)”, reads the press release.
Given the gravity of the situation, the chamber demands “the urgent and complete replacement of electrical supply in all locations in the municipality” and “transparency in communication about resolution deadlines and teams on the ground”. The Chamber also demands “immediate reinforcement of operational resources, given the persistence of prolonged and unacceptable situations”, and the “assumption of applicable responsibilities, for the material damage caused to families and companies”.
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