The brand new Secretary of Energy, Maria Tettamantigave his first public definitions this Wednesday, a month after taking over as head of the portfolio. After the extension of the emergency of the national energy sector until July 9, he announced the Government’s contingency plan for the summer that was started by his predecessor in office.
“One of the urgent issues is next summerwhich according to meteorologists is going to be very hot, and lack of investment in the generation sector. You cannot build a power plant overnight, we have to make do with the offer we have“, noted the official at an event of the Electronic Gas Market (Megsa) for its 20-year anniversary.
“Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo (his predecessor in office) had already issued resolution 294 to take emergency measures which aim, among other things, at try to ensure that the energy supply is as high as possiblegenerating incentives for generating plants to make small investments and have more power and generation reserves,” he reviewed.
And he announced that its management “it will be continuity”. “I am not assuming, as was the case of my predecessor, with a change of government and also with a change in the direction of the country; but I come to continue the energy policy that Eduardo started − to whom I want to publicly acknowledge everything that has advanced in these 10 months − and it is marked in a national policy that, of course, I share,” he considered.
In that sense, he remarked: “We are trying to get large users, on days of maximum demand for electrical energy, lower consumption. We are working, and We will soon announce some measuresin trying to ensure that these problems in the electricity sector, which are resolved in the medium and long term, can begin to have investments. AND Let the private sector begin to sign contracts and solve this problem.. We, from the State, what we can do is deregulate and encourage free negotiation between the parties.”
“The State does not create wealth, what I have to do in the energy sector is understand What trouble do I have to take out of the private sector to get it to invest? and define where gas must be exported. Excess public spending is the root of all macroeconomic problems and I believe that the great mistake of all governments has been, especially in recent years, wanting to solve macro problems attacking micro markets,” he said.
And he added that “the case of energy is very clear”: “As there is excess spending, taxes are not enough and we have to resort to debt of the inflation tax.” “And since we resort to the inflation tax, we want to control that inflation, so we start to freeze rates, freeze prices, and there we start to destroy markets”, he stated.
Likewise, he said that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with Brazil will seek give a signal to the private sector and all the neighboring countries, because Paraguay or Uruguay can also play a roledepending on where it is determined that it is most efficient to build the transportation infrastructure to bring gas to the region. “We will put our commitment to see what the State can contribute, which will basically be by providing legal security and deregulating so that these projects come to fruition,” he said.
“I know that I cannot change the country alone, but I do have the full commitment to do it from wherever I am and I will do the impossible to do my best and at least contribute to the energy sector so that this country can move forward and so that many young people who emigrated can return. “It is a great challenge,” he said.
Tettamanti had advised Patricia Bullrich during the campaign on energy issues and has expertise in the gas industry, where he served as general manager of NRG Energy SA. It was suggested by Macri and the PRO technical teams in accordance with Santiago Caputo.
The new Secretary of Energy is 60 years old, she divorced the economist some time ago Aldo Abramthe Executive Director of the Freedom and Progress Foundation; and She has a degree in Economics from the National University of La Plata (UNLP)with a master’s degree from the University of CEMA (Ucema) and different courses in environmental economics and renewable energies.