Buenos Aires province restores electricity rate hikes

The Court of Appeals in Mar del Plata has suspended a previous injunction that had blocked electricity rate increases in the Province of Buenos Aires. This judicial decision allows electrical distributors and cooperatives to reimplement price hikes ranging from 1.5% to 3.5% while the underlying legal dispute continues.

The increases, which affect approximately 1.4 million users, were originally authorized by the provincial Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Services but were halted in September by a court in Bahía Blanca following a complaint from the provincial Ombudsman. The provincial government and major distributors appealed that ruling.

The reversal of the injunction has sparked internal political tension within the Peronist movement. Members of La Cámpora, including provincial deputy Mayra Mendoza, have publicly questioned Governor Axel Kicillof’s decision to appeal the initial ruling that had prevented the increases.