When it comes into direct contact with our body, electricity causes external and/or internal injuries. While the former cause burns (more or less serious) to the skin, the latter damage muscles, nerves, bones, organs (the heart can suffer arrhythmias and even stop).
Given the danger that an electrical accident poses to the physical integrity and life of people, article 16 of Law No. 24,065 establishes that providers of electrical energy services must guarantee the safe operation of their equipment and facilities in public spaces. . Based on this requirement, transporters and distributors under the control of ENRE must comply with specific Resolutions and regulations, and submit to the inspections and audits that this National Entity carries out on its own initiative or in response to complaints filed by third parties.
Within this framework, our agency is empowered to order the removal, replacement, adaptation and/or repair of facilities and equipment, order the suspension of the service, sanction the concessionaire in violation and establish the application of any other preventive or corrective measure aimed at protect the physical integrity of people on the street. In this sense, the complaints that citizens can make – through this form or the toll-free line 0800-333-3000, from Monday to Sunday, 24 hours a day – represent a valuable contribution when they observe:
- smoke, steam or fire emanating from underground chambers, boxes and transformers;
- open or damaged covers of any electrical installation;
- cables and electrical conductors in contact with metal installations or within reach;
- twisted or fallen power line poles and/or cables;
- equipment or electrical network lines that do not comply with regulatory distances.
- Improper placement or absence of regulatory signage and fencing in repair/expansion/installation works.
Unscrupulous individual behavior constitutes a second cause of electrical accidents in public spaces. To combat them, ENRE periodically disseminates the following good practices.
- Cabinets, boxes, cameras located on public roads must be tightly closed. Only authorized personnel can handle them.
- Respect the signs and fences that surround the repair works of the distributors/transporters.
- Stay away from medium and high voltage overhead lines.
- Foreign elements resting on conductors or transformers.
- Open or uncovered boxes, flooded boxes or cabinets, clandestine connections, public lighting columns on the electrical network.
- Twisted or fallen power line poles.
- Electrified structures or walls.
- Cables at low height.
- Do not travel on floodable sidewalks and streets when there is a storm.
- Do not climb power line poles.
- Do not prune, fell, or knock down trees near overhead power lines.
- Do not fly kites near power lines.
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