National court judge Ismael Moreno opens oral lawsuit against the company and four of its directors for “causing electricity prices to rise and harming consumers”
The judge of the national court, Ismael Moreno, has agreed to open an oral trial against Iberdrola Generación España (the group’s subsidiary dedicated to electricity production) and four of its directors, as confirmed by this newspaper. It has done this to “increase the price of electricity and harm consumers” through its hydroelectric power plants it has at the end of 2013 on the rivers Duero, Sil and Tagus. relationship with the market and the consumer”.
At the end of May, the magistrate ended five years of investigation and proposed the Criminal Chamber to try the suspects for crimes against the market and consumers. The alleged criminal operation generated a profit of EUR 21.5 million for the company and damages to consumers of approximately EUR 100 million due to the rise in electricity prices.
The head of the Central Court of Instruction Number Two agreed in that resolution to continue the shortened proceedings (similar to the hearing) of a case that began in 2017 after a complaint filed by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office . The instructor explained that the procedures carried out over all these years, including an enrollment and registration at the Iberdrola Generación headquarters in Madrid and Bilbao, are sufficient to complete the instruction.
The largest company on the Ibex 35 by market capitalization – which has already accepted a 25 million fine from the CNMC for a very serious violation – reduced production at the hydroelectric power plants of the Duero, Sil and Tagus rivers in late 2013 to lower the price of electricity. . These are some of the facts Anti-Corruption collected in its complaint, in which it pointed out that “to profit illegally” Iberdrola devised and put in place a system to increase the price of energy sold and for no legitimate reason to do so. justify .
These actions, said to have been repeated last summer with the emptying of the reservoirs of Ricobayo (Zamora) and Valdecañas (Cáceres), have led to the cancellation of the programming of the multinational factories.
Corporate sources consulted by this paper clarify that it is a case “without any criminal relevance”. They also insist that “the repeated independent reports” that have come to light during the investigation indicate that “not only did we not benefit” at the time, “but were also harmed by external factors” . It refers to the dry season in Spain at the end of 2013 and the restriction imposed at the time on the use of water as a source of electricity through the reservoirs with hydroelectric power stations.
The instructor dedicates a large part of his car to the sanction file that has been opened for this at the Basque multinational in the CNMC. In this regard, it explains that, given all the facts gathered by the regulatory body, the national court found it “important” to investigate how this decision was made within Iberdrola Generación and who carried it out.
The judicial police confiscated copious documentation and took statements from workers of Iberdrola Generación. The witnesses provided key information about these price manipulations and the areas responsible, allowing the court to clarify a chain of command over these decisions and indict four of its directors at the time: the person in charge of Energy Management, Ángel Chiarri; the former head of Resource Management and Trading Optimization, Gregorio Relaño; the head of asset management José Luis Rapún; and his counterpart in Short-Term Markets and Global Generation, Javier Paradinas.
Faced with the criteria of the investigators, the multinational has defended that it is an “administrative discrepancy” between the CNMC and Iberdrola and confirmed that independent experts can prove that there was no economic damage to the market. An appeal can be lodged with the Chamber against the decision of the judge.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
