CEEE Equatorial ordered to pay damages over 2023 cyclone

A court in Pelotas ordered Equatorial Energia subsidiary CEEE Equatorial to indemnify customers who lost electricity following an extratropical cyclone in July 2023. The first-instance decision covers five municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Under the ruling, the distributor must pay individual moral damages of 5,000 Brazilian reais to each qualifying consumer unit. Urban clients who spent more than 24 hours without power and rural clients whose service was interrupted for more than 48 hours are eligible for the compensation.

The judge also ordered CEEE Equatorial to pay 3 million Brazilian reais in collective moral damages to the state asset reconstitution fund. During the weather emergency in July 2023, statewide power outages peaked at 750,000 consumer units.

CEEE Equatorial stated that it has invested 237 million Brazilian reais in network improvements across the five affected municipalities since its privatization in 2021. In the city of Pelotas alone, the company performed 5,700 maintenance actions during the first half of 2026, which was 29% above its original schedule.