Desperation due to
power outages
pushed many residents of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the lack of energy to seek
illegal solutions to provide themselves with electricity
.
In recent weeks, with the record heat wave, the interruption of the electricity supply has already become unbearable and several consortiums and families are debating
whether to hang on to the power grid to have electricity.
"We have been suffering this for years. We complain thousands of times and they do nothing. We even started legal proceedings. We feel abandoned," said Daniela, a neighbor of Mataderos, an area where people live with the constant uncertainty of having or not having electricity
. .
This catastrophic scenario causes many owners and tenants to start hanging from the network, making a
"bridge".
"In my mother's building, the consortium is debating whether to call an electrician and
connect directly to the network,"
said her daughter Laura.
The problem is that these "bridges"
are dangerous and illegal.
"They make a connection between the house and one of the three phases that are in the electrical circuit. They send a cable from the property's thermal to the street outlet box, "bypassing" the meter," says Javier Fernández,
electrical
technician and pro-secretary of the Argentine Association of Residential, Industrial and Commercial Electrical Installers.
Protests over power outages are repeated and inquiries about illegal connections are growing.
Photo: Emmanuel Fernandez
Fernández explains that this is dangerous because
it overloads the phases.
"If several neighbors connect to one phase, this causes the voltage to drop, which can burn the cable. In this way,
the light is cut off again
and the company has to go to the place and change the cable."
In addition, it warns that it is illegal.
"The energy is private.
The cables that pass through the street belong to the electricity company. It is a crime to hang yourself or build a bridge. This is called energy theft. And it is punishable by law."
Lucas, another electrician, acknowledged that he had
several calls from neighbors asking about this issue.
"
They call you and ask you for a budget to do it. The only thing I can do is go to the box and see what is happening. But do not make bridges. It is illegal. But it is true that in these weeks the inquiries have increased
for do this kind of work."
As
Clarín
was able to find out , the electricians who do offer this solution are charging
between 3,500 and 5,000 pesos to make the parallel connection.
Response from Edesur
Clarín
consulted the energy company on the matter.
"It is not convenient for users or electricians to touch the distribution network," they replied.
"This represents
a risk for whoever does it.
It may happen that in order to change phase the network is destabilized and in the long run the solution ends up being a problem for whoever does it and their neighbors," they said.
"These are jobs that are illegal
and
obviously there is no certainty that they are well done. Intervening in the electricity distribution network represents a risk for whoever does it and for third parties. It is not convenient to do so," they added.
law of electrodependents
Fernández explains that the electrically dependent
law
obliges energy companies to supply electrical equipment to people who are registered as such.
"They are people who need energy to survive. A clear example is insulin-dependent people, who need to keep their medication in the fridge. In these cases, if there is a power outage, the company is obliged to provide a generator and notify you in advance when is going to make the cut so that the person can connect to the equipment sooner".