New Energy Minister Alvaro García Addresses Power Bill «Error»: Companies Responsible for Overcharging Will Compensate

This Thursday afternoon, new Energy Minister Álvaro García spoke about the «error» in calculating electricity bills, stating that compensation in this matter «will have to be provided by those who overcharged, which was not the ministry, but the companies.»

Regarding the reimbursement process, the state secretary mentioned, «The most effective channel for returning resources to families is something we will work on in greater depth. The goal is to ensure it happens as soon as possible.»

«Compensating families for the unfair charges they have been subjected to will be a major task; determining the magnitude of that cost and finding the best channel to compensate families is essential,» added García, who also announced the departure of Marco Mancilla, the executive secretary of the National Energy Commission (CNE), alongside an internal audit of the entity.

Álvaro García succeeds Diego Pardow, who resigned after revelations showed that for years the inflation effect had been doubled in power bill calculations by combining CPI and interest rates for non-adjustable operations, leading to higher tariffs.

According to the information available so far, the Superintendence of Electricity and Fuels (SEC) raised alarms, while the CNE was responsible for the questioned rate settings.

It is worth noting that following Diego Pardow’s resignation from the Ministry of Energy, President Gabriel Boric appointed current Economy Minister Álvaro García as «biminister» in both portfolios. Read more on this topic:

Boric Accepts Pardow’s Resignation Following Error Inflating Electricity Bills and Appoints Álvaro García as Biminister

Eight Years, Three Governments Inflating Electricity Rates: SEC —Not CNE— Detected the «Methodological Error»

El Ciudadano

Original article: Nuevo ministro de Energía por «error» en cuentas de la luz: «Las compensaciones las van a tener que dar quienes cobraron de más», es decir las empresas