Iberdrola’s Bolivian blow

TWO Spanish owned electricity companies have been nationalised by the Bolivian government.

The Iberdrola subsidiaries were accused by Bolivian President Evo Morales of overcharging consumers in rural communities.

He said people in the countryside were paying up to three times as much for their power as consumers in urban areas.

“We were forced to take this measure,” he said, calling the electricity charges “unfair and unequal”.

Iberdrola, which will find out in 180 days how much compensation it will get after independent arbitration, owned 89.5% of Electropaz, which operates in Bolivia’s largest city, La Paz, and 92.8% of Elfeo, based in the Oruro region.