CNMC TARGETS FIVE OVER IBERIAN BLACKOUT

Cani Fernández, president of Spain's competition and energy regulator CNMC, has opened approximately 20 sanctioning proceedings against Red Eléctrica, Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy, and Repsol for their roles in the 28 April 2025 blackout that cut power to 47 million people across Spain and Portugal.

Red Eléctrica, Spain's sole transmission system operator, faces the heaviest charge. The CNMC is investigating a "very serious" infraction under Article 64.25 of the Ley del Sector Eléctrico, which governs the system operator's core obligation to maintain grid security. The maximum fine is €60 million.

Iberdrola Generación, Endesa Generación, and Naturgy each face five separate proceedings under Article 65.8 for technical non-compliance, with fines ranging from €600,000 to €6 million. Repsol Generación Eléctrica faces one.

The total disconnected load was 31 GW. The employers' organisation CEOE estimated economic losses at €1.6 billion. Repsol alone reported roughly €175 million in refinery shutdown costs.

"No asignamos responsabilidades de los posibles fallos en nuestro informe sino que esto corresponde a los procedimientos sancionadores." — Cani Fernández, El Español, April 2026. We do not assign responsibility for possible failures in our report. That is for the sanctioning proceedings.

The timing is surgical. Fernández published on a Friday after market close, 11 days before the one-year anniversary, and three days before Iberdrola CEO Mario Ruiz-Tagle, Endesa CEO José Bogas, and Naturgy Chairman Francisco Reynés are scheduled to testify before a Congressional investigation commission.

The PP-controlled Senate commission has already approved conclusions blaming Red Eléctrica, the government, and the CNMC itself for the blackout.

No comparable multi-entity regulatory enforcement for a blackout event exists in European history. The closest precedent is Ofgem's 2019 action after the UK blackout, where RWE, Orsted, and UK Power Networks paid a combined £10.5 million. Red Eléctrica alone faces nearly five times that ceiling.

Proceedings last between nine and 18 months. Fernández's own term as CNMC president ends in June 2026, meaning her successor will decide whether the fines land.

Source: Reuters