The Prosecutor's Office information a grievance towards Naturgy Generación for the rise in costs throughout the pandemic | Economy | EUROtoday

The Prosecutor's Office of the National Court has filed a grievance towards Naturgy Generación for the “abusive” enhance in power manufacturing costs on the Sabón 3 mixed cycle thermal energy plant (within the electrical zone of Galicia), from March 2019 to December 2020, coinciding with the financial and social disaster derived from the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this fashion, the general public ministry urges to prosecute the preliminary investigation that it opened towards the electrical energy firm following a grievance filed by the patron affiliation Facua, after the sanction of six million euros that the National Commission of Markets and Competition ( CNMC) imposed on the corporate, in July 2023, for manipulating the worth within the electrical energy market, particularly in that of technical restrictions. The Prosecutor's Office attributes a criminal offense associated to the market and customers {of electrical} power.

The proceedings carried out by the general public ministry, which have been directed by the lieutenant prosecutor of the National Court, Marta Durántez, and by the coordinating prosecutor of the Contentious-Administrative and Social Section of the National Court, Manuel Campoy, have concluded that Naturgy Generación “abused its dominant position” within the electrical energy marketplace for technical changes, adopting a technique of providing provides at unfair costs nicely above these ensuing from environments of better competitors.”

“Naturgy Generación, with the prevalence and abuse of its dominant position, derived from the knowledge it had of both factors (increase in the cost of generation with coal and the lower competition derived from the unavailability of PGR5), of the security of supply situation in the zone where Sabón 3 is located and the high probability of being dispatched to resolve the technical restrictions in said electrical zone, deliberately adopted a strategy of offers at unfair prices and well above those resulting from environments of greater competition, “aimed at achieving an unjustified profit in the technical adjustments market,” explains the decree to archive the proceedings initiated by the Prosecutor's Office, which give rise to the complaint.

With this action, the company obtained an unjustified profit of 43.2 million euros gross, which generated an extra cost for the marketing entities, highlights the Prosecutor's Office.

Facua reported these events to the Prosecutor's Office in August 2023, understanding that the electricity company offered excessive prices, thanks to the “information in its possession.” “It has used artifice to increase the price of the offers due to restrictions of the 'Sabón 3' plant in the period from March 2019 to December 2020, so that the aforementioned price increase is not due to variations in the cost. of natural gas or those derived from the operation of the plant itself,” mentioned the patron affiliation.

It isn’t the primary time that an electrical energy firm has been concerned in a authorized case within the National Court. Iberdrola Generación was tried in October final yr for allegedly manipulating the costs of electrical energy from the Duero, Sil and Tajo basins in the midst of the chilly wave in 2013. Finally, the National Court acquitted the Iberdrola subsidiary when it understood that it didn’t There was worth manipulation as a result of it was “fully proven” that the electrical energy firm put “all the hydroelectric energy it had” available on the market on the finish of 2013.

Follow all the data Five days in Facebook, X y Linkedinor nuestra publication Five Day Agenda