Spain's Government Blames Huge Blackout On Grid Regulator and Private Firms

A major blackout in Spain and Portugal earlier this year caused widespread disruption, impacting businesses, schools, transport, and daily life. The Spanish government has now released a report blaming the national grid operator, Red Electrica, and private power generation companies for the outage. Red Electrica is accused of miscalculating power capacity needs and failing to activate a thermal plant. Private generators are faulted for not regulating voltage as required, despite being paid to do so. While specific companies weren't named, the government held them accountable for their actions. Questions arise regarding the role of Red Electrica's president, a former Socialist minister, who initially denied the grid regulator's fault. The government insists a cyberattack or renewable energy output was not responsible for the blackout. The report followed Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's earlier suggestion of potential involvement by private electricity companies. The government had previously called for patience during their investigation into the unprecedented event. The energy blackout disconnected Spain and Portugal from the European electricity grid for several hours.