Testifying in the parliamentary committee of inquiry to excessive ‘rents’ in the electricity sector, Victor Santos said it was quite clear that “the regulator’s hands and feet were tied” by the legislation, in answer to a question from deputies.
According to Santos, who served as ERSE president from 2007 to 2017, the regulator “tried by all means at its disposal … to pressure successive governments to make amendments” to the legislation in question.
In his opening statement, Santos said that the CMEC legislation had “a clear concern with withdrawing regulatory powers and supervisory powers attributed by statute to the regulator” with regard to the previous system of payments, known as CAE.
CMEC contracts were introduced to compensate for the early cessation of Energy Acquisition Contracts (CAE) in the wake of the transposition into Portuguese law in 2004 of European directives. They were subsequently revised in 2007.