He blackout began to feel strong on Tuesday around 10 p.m.when the ENRE marked 25 thousand users without electricity; An hour later, those affected exceeded 30 thousand. But that was just the beginning: 1.30 in the morning, the figure climbed to almost 1 million users. In neighborhoods such as Recoleta, Villa del Parque, Monserrat and Villa Crespo, medium voltage networks collapsed. In the south of the Conurbano, the situation was critical in Avellaneda, Lomas de Zamora, Florencio Varela and Esteban Echeverría, with more than 11 thousand users in the dark. Edenor, although to a lesser extentalso left its clientele adrift.
A system broken by private business
He court lasted eternal hours. Early in the morning of the 31st, more than 8 thousand people were still without power in the Edesur area alone. Social networks exploded: the hashtag #SinLuz was a trend, among anger, photos of a city completely dark and even memes that compared the blackout to a science fiction series. But reality is not funny at all: the privatized electricity system once again showed its cruelest face, unable to guarantee a basic service in conditions of extreme heat.
It wasn’t just one night. The Power outages have been recurring throughout the week, with temperatures that do not drop below 35 degrees and thousands of families suffering firsthand the scam of the privatized companies. For the last day of the year, a maximum of 39 degrees was expected and, far from improving, the electrical outlook was still on red alert. La Plata was also hit, especially in neighborhoods such as Tolosa, Los Hornos and the Casco Urbano.
Millionaire profits and fourth-class service
These types of situations are not new. Every summer, when consumption rises, the energy system shows all its miseries. Who wins in the meantime? The companies: Edenor earned almost $400 million per day in the first quarter alone, and Edesur declared $5,917 million in operating profit in the same period. All this, with high rates enabled by the government and permanent subsidies, while the service is getting worse and worse.
He business of privatized companies is sustained with state complicity and at the expense of the daily lives of millions. Regulatory entities, such as ENRE, are left in trouble when the website directly stops working for hours in the middle of the blackout, making it impossible to access official data.
The only way out: energy under the control of workers and users
The experience of decades of privatization leaves no room for doubt: electricity, an essential right, cannot continue to be a business for a few. The claim is clear and urgent: Enough of the privatized scam. The expropriation and nationalization of the entire energy system is necessaryunder the management of its workers and users, with popular committees that allow rational and democratic planning.
Only in this way can we guarantee a cheap and quality service for everyone, and put an end to the permanent blackmail of companies that profit at the expense of our health, our safety and our right to live with dignity. Energy is needed for life, not for profit. Stop leaving millions adrift in the heat and darkness.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
