SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE Nov. 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –
On Thursday, the PSOE encouraged the Canary Islands Government to recommence the sanction procedures against electricity companies for zero energy in the archipelago since 2018, now that they have lapsed. They clarified that the nearly 50 million euros to be refunded to the companies are not funds from the Government but rather a reimbursement of the fines imposed.
In a statement, the socialists dismissed the allegations made by the Minister of Ecological Transition of the Canary Islands Government, Mariano Hernández Zapata, regarding the previous regional administration’s obligation to return “million-euro sanctions.”
They elucidated that when the ‘Flower Pact’ Government took office, “the cases had not lapsed, and now with this Government they have lapsed again, which is the most beneficial service they can provide to the electricity companies; they have reverted to previous practices.”
In this regard, they highlighted that upon their arrival, there were 47 sanctioning proceedings dating back to 2010 with a total of 60.8 million euros that had lapsed, thus these fines “were never settled” by the electricity companies, which indicates that “the prior administrations, led by the Canarian Coalition (CC), permitted all these cases to expire, resulting in a loss exceeding 60 million euros for the public funds of the Canary Islands.”
According to the socialists, “the intention of the ‘Pact of the Flowers’ was to prevent any cases from lapsing, contrary to the approach taken by the previous governments of the Canary Coalition; as such, the sanction procedures were initiated in accordance with the established regulatory frameworks and respective deadlines.”
The PSOE expressed appreciation for the Canary Islands Government extending these deadlines to facilitate resolutions and prevent expirations. However, they also pointed out that once a procedure has lapsed, “another procedure can be initiated for the same incidents.”
The PSOE has requested copies of the sanction files from the Department of Ecological Transition and Energy to ascertain the details and monitor the actions of the regional Government.