The Department of Social Rights, which has chaired the meeting of the energy poverty table, will contact Naturgy and Iberdrola shortly to join the agreement that Endesa has already signed
The Government wants Naturgy, Iberdrola and the rest of electric companies that provide services in Catalonia forgive the debt of all their vulnerable clients. currently only Endesa has committed to it, while there are dozens of vulnerable familiesclients of the rest of the companies, who cannot pay the bills and, since there is no energy agreement like the one that Endesa signed with the Generalitat, they have accumulated debts since 2015. “We must approach the rest of the companies,” stressed the Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzanoafter finishing the meeting of the energy poverty table, which was held this Wednesday. Sources from the ‘conselleria’ have explained that they will initiate contacts with the group of energy companies as soon as possible.
It is the first time and publicly that the Government calls for the rest of electric companies in Catalonia sign the same agreement that Endesa signed. The second large electric company in Catalonia is Naturgy, followed by Iberdrola. However, these firms, according to the ‘conseller’, account for 3% of the total electricity market in Catalonia.
The problem is that vulnerable families who are clients of Naturgy and Iberdrola have been accumulating debt since 2015. That year the Catalan law against energy poverty was approved, which prevents power outages for families who cannot pay their bills. Those families continue to consume energy and their unpaid bills are piling up. It is common for them to receive constant collection letters and calls from companies, which only increase the suffering and anxiety of households, which try to reduce their consumption as much as possible.
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This has been one of the star themes at the meeting of the energy poverty table that has been held with the presence of social entities, councils, municipal entities and the Barcelona City Council and directed by the ‘conselleria’. Campuzano did not attend, but the general secretary, Lluís Torrents, and the general director of Social Services, Mariona Homs. It is the first time that this table has met since the month of June, in the spring. She has done it almost half a year late, when the temperatures have already dropped, bringing the cold to homes, and with skyrocketing prices for inflation.
Other problems that require urgent action have been discussed at the meeting. For example, the imminent payment that the ‘conselleria’ must assume of 17.9 M euros of the 41,000 vulnerable customers of Endesa in Catalonia. It is the only company that, to date, has canceled a part of the accumulated debt of vulnerable families. The table has also raised the need to extend the electric social bondwhich implies reductions in the electricity bill and that only 30% of vulnerable families in Catalonia receive.