The mayor of Brazil’s largest city on Wednesday asked the Federal Accounts Court, a public spending watchdog, to review the services provided by Enel, the Italian multinational in charge of power distribution in São Paulo — nearly three months after storms left millions without electricity for several days.
The action by Mayor Ricardo Nunes, who is running a hotly contested race for re-election this year, is the first bite after a series of barks against Enel.
As The Brazilian Report showed, Mr. Nunes said back in November that he had asked Brazil’s federal energy regulator, Aneel, for permission to cancel the city’s contract with Enel. However, he took no official action to do so.
Enel won a public tender in 2018 to take over Eletropaulo, a now-defunct state-owned electricity company. At the time, Eletropaulo was already under the control of a private company, the U.S.-based AES, which sold its stake.
Last November, after heavy rains hit the city, leaving millions without power for days and demonstrating how ill-prepared the country’s largest and most developed urban center is to deal with extreme climate events, the mayor said the situation had become untenable.
“Enel can no longer stay here in São Paulo. It is unacceptable to have a...
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