April 24 (Reuters) - Spain's antitrust and energy watchdog CNMC has added more power companies, including local units of France's TotalEnergies and Engie, to the list of firms being investigated over
Spain's CNMC Expands Energy Sector Probe After 2025 Blackout Incident
CNMC Investigation into Power Companies Following Blackout
Expansion of the Probe
April 24 (Reuters) - Spain's antitrust and energy watchdog CNMC has added more power companies, including local units of France's TotalEnergies and Engie, to the list of firms being investigated over last year's unprecedented blackout in Spain and Portugal, it said on Friday.
Background on the Blackout Incident
Last week the CNMC opened formal probes after finding evidence that some power sector rules were breached over extended periods, possibly contributing to the crippling outage on April 28, 2025.
Companies Under Investigation
It then said it was investigating Spanish grid operator Red Electrica (REE) - a unit of Redeia - and energy companies IberdrolaMC>, Naturgy, Endesa, and Repsol, as well as individual power plants.
New Sanctions and Company Responses
Now it has also opened sanctions procedures against Engie Cartagena and TotalEnergies Clientes, among others. Engie and Total did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Potential Penalties and Procedure Duration
Maximum Fines
CNMC head Cani Fernandez had previously said the most serious breaches could lead to a fine of up to 60 million euros.
Sanction Procedure Timelines
The sanction procedures have a maximum duration that varies between nine and 18 months, depending on the severity of the infraction, it said.
Reporting Credits
(Reporting by Joao Manuel Mauricio in Gdansk, additional reporting by America Hernandez, editing by Andrei Khalip)
