Iberdrola will sit on the bench in October for the alleged manipulation of the price of electricity

The National Court has informed Iberdrola Generación España SAU, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, that the trial for the alleged intentional closure of reservoirs to artificially inflate the price of electricity will begin on October 17 and is expected to last until December 1.. This is the first oral hearing held in the history of Spain against an electric company for the alleged adulteration of the rate. The Prosecutor's Office attributes to the multinational company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán a crime against consumers and the market.

In addition to Iberdrola as a legal entity, four of its executives will also sit on the bench: the director of Energy Management, ACT; the head of Optimization, Resource Management and Trading, GRC; the head of Asset Management, JLRJ, and the head of Short-Term Markets and Global Generation Management, JPZ. Likewise, together with the Public Ministry, the companies Geoatlander SL, Axpo Iberia SL and Belegi Invest SL, as well as the consumer association Facua, has been present since the beginning of the case as popular accusation..

The facts date back to December 2013, when, in the midst of a dispute with the government of Mariano Rajoy over the tariff deficit, Iberdrola allegedly intentionally blocked the production of its reservoirs to provide less hydraulic energy to the system —the cheapest source that exists- and cause that they had to connect, to meet the demand, their combined cycle plants -one of the most expensive sources-. As a consequence, the electricity rate shot up to 126%. The increase was so stratospheric that the Executive of the PP decided to suspend the auction to avoid final consumers having to pay 10.5%.

The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) was the first to act due to the alleged irregular practices of the listed company, imposing a penalty of 25 million euros for manipulating the pricing system to increase its profits.. But in 2017 a criminal investigation began, directed by the Central Court of Instruction number 2 of the National Court, which aggravated the possible consequences of fraud and even involved the search of several headquarters of the multinational in Madrid and Bilbao..

Iberdrola has always maintained that the only reason why it produced less hydraulic energy that month of December was that it had rained less than expected and that the forecasts for the following months were not good either.. Likewise, it argues that in the weeks under suspicion it had a buying position of energy, not a seller, for which reason the increase in prices caused it harm..

But CNMC experts have refuted that argument in a report incorporated into the summary, ensuring that Iberdrola had a positive balance that month of at least 569,043 Gwh. In addition, as this newspaper revealed, the Central Operating Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard also found evidence in the records that the giant headed by Sánchez Galán intended to produce much more hydraulic energy than it finally put on the market and that last year previous, with fewer reserves in the reservoirs, contributed a significantly higher production.

The seized documents and witness statements also revealed that the company made decisions to set the price of its energy in informal meetings, verbally, with unknown criteria and without recording the content of the conversations in the minutes.. One of the most lethal testimonies for Iberdrola was the one offered by the Minister of Industry at the time of the events, José Manuel Soria, who expressed his conviction that there was market manipulation..

The investigation phase concluded in July 2021. In November 2022, Iberdrola Generación had to post a bond of 192 million euros to ensure payment of possible liabilities for a hypothetical conviction. The indictments claim astronomical losses from intermediaries and also a huge cost to households.

It is expected that the representative of the company and the four executives prosecuted will testify on October 17 and 18. Between October 24 and November 8, the interrogations of the witnesses proposed by the parties will take place. From November 14 to 28, it will be the turn of the experts and, finally, between November 29 and December 1, the final conclusions will be issued, pending the ruling.