The Province filed a lawsuit against two cooperatives for energy debts

The Province of Neuquén, through the energy agency, filed a legal claim against the cooperatives of Zapala, Cutral Co and Plaza Huincul for the payment of the energy that was consumed in the pandemic despite the fact that there is a national benefit whose result is not transferred to the inland distributors.

The president of the Board of Directors of Copelco, Máximo Cisneros, said that from March to December 2020 he could not collect the energy he was providing to the associates because “everything collapsed, not only health but the economy of the States.”

The national State issued a decree prohibiting interruption of service due to non-payment and then “the chain of payments was cut, we stopped receiving payment from our associates but from official public bodies which, in the case of the cooperative, is significant,” he said in statements to UNC CALF radio.

He clarified that payments for public buildings are more significant in Copelco compared to other cities because communications and internet services are also included.
The indebtedness was from the entire energy sector of the country.

In 2021 and 2022, the National Budget Law provided that for electric power debts there would be a special payment plan with a rate of 50% with a grace period to pay in 5 years.
“We had that debt of around 600 million pesos and we began to channel through the Neuquén Provincial Energy Entity, EPEN, to access those facilities provided by law,” Cisneros said.

He explained that EPEN, like CALF, adhere to and obtain a payment plan in accordance with these characteristics based on the fact that both are recognized as distributors and buy directly from Cammesa.

“Until today, EPEN has not replicated it downstream, that is, to the cooperatives that buy from EPEN,” he said. In addition to Copelco, the provincial body buys the Zapala and Plottier cooperatives, although the latter made a payment plan independent of the benefits of national law.
Copelco continues with the claim and “I don’t know the reasons,” said Cisneros and revealed that he had a meeting with Leonel Dacharry, the Secretary of Public Services, and the president of EPEN, Francisco Zambón.

He clarified that he has an excellent personal relationship with them and that, while he was looking for a way out, “one day we found that EPEN filed a lawsuit against us, not only against Copelco but also against Zapala” for the amounts owed.

He opined that, once EPEN makes its agreement with the national State, it has the obligation by law to replicate it to the cooperatives. “We have not been able to reach an agreement with EPEN, the trial is still on track,” he said.

He revealed that the provincial State owes Copelco the same amount of money, so “it is only a question of compensating the debt” and he was confident that at some point the situation would be fixed.