Long-term power outages outrage residents of Makhachkala

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In Makhachkala, the power may be out for several hours to several days, local residents said. At the same time, power engineers cite abnormal heat.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, residents of Makhachkala regularly complain about problems with electricity and water supply. On July 13, they expressed indignation in connection with the long-term absence of water supply in their homes: people are forced to buy bottled water, and appeals to the authorities have not yielded results. Officials explained the interruption in water supply by repair work.

Makhachkala residents complained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on July 25 about constant power outages; according to them, there may be no power for several hours or even several days.

Without power, the water pumps do not work

"Constant power outages in the Reduktorny district, in particular, on Uradinsky Street. Without electricity, the water pumps don't work, there's no way to swim or cook in this heat," said Murad.

"The electricity is regularly cut off on Yusupov Street, the pump station is out of order, so there's no water," said Khadizhat.

There's been no electricity on Geroev Dagestana Street for three days, said Ismail.

"There was no electricity on Zamanova Street all day. "The ice cream melted in the store, other products spoiled," said the owner of the store Magomed.

Residents of Przhevalskogo, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Irchi Kazak streets, and the village of Novy Khushet also reported the lack of electricity and water.

The authorities did not inform about the upcoming outages in advance, and there was no water supply. It is impossible to get through to Dagenergo, Makhachkala residents interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent said.

A special operating mode has been introduced at the Dagenergo branch due to the abnormal heat, the organization reported on its Telegram channel. "Due to the ongoing period of high temperatures in Dagestan (the actual temperature is +37 degrees Celsius), a special operating mode has been introduced at Dagenergo, which requires the full mobilization of forces and resources. "There are 173 teams of the branch ready to eliminate technological failures: 678 specialists and 294 units of special equipment," the publication says.

There are not enough people to quickly fix breakdowns, teams are traveling from one location to another

An employee of Dagenergo, on condition of anonymity, told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" that tens of thousands of people in the city are sometimes left without power at the same time. "There are not enough people to quickly fix breakdowns, teams are traveling from one location to another. "The old networks cannot withstand the load," the company representative said.

The Rospotrebnadzor Office for Dagestan is preparing to file a class action lawsuit against PJSC Rosseti North Caucasus "On the provision of poor-quality housing and communal services (electricity)," the agency reported on its Telegram channel on July 21.

Here they clarified that filing a class action lawsuit is possible if the following conditions are met: there is a defendant common to each member of the group; common or homogeneous rights and interests have been violated; the factual circumstances of each case of violation of rights are also similar; power outage for more than 24 hours.

Lawyer Rasul Abdulkhalikov wrote in his Telegram channel that he hopes that residents of Dagestan and other victims - from tourists to businesses - "will overwhelm those responsible for the current energy collapse with lawsuits in courts and complaints to supervisory authorities."

Without collective action, there will be no collective result

"It's not as difficult as it seems. You can join the collective lawsuit that Rospotrebnadzor is preparing. You can file individually. "Without collective action, there will be no collective result," Abdulkhalikov believes.

Blogger Rasul Maazov reported that since 2022, he has counted at least seven news items about the Russian government allocating funds for Dagestan to normalize electricity supply.

"For this, a program was approved to ensure sustainable economic development of energy and housing and communal services enterprises in the Republic of Dagestan, authored by the supervising vice-premier. As we know, more than six billion have allegedly already been "mastered" under this program, and this is not all the funds that were sent to Dagestan for energy. The question of who, where the funds went and what was done is declared open. "It feels like someone is just squeezing out the maximum while they can," he wrote in his Telegram channel "Ask Rasul."

A simple reference to "abnormal heat" is not sufficient grounds for recognizing it as force majeure, lawyer Ali Aliyev told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The heat must be truly abnormal for the given area and time of year, going beyond the normal climatic fluctuations that the energy company was obliged to predict and for which it must be prepared.

He explained that the criteria for force majeure are emergency and inevitability, that is, the event must be exceptional and unforeseen. "The heat must be truly abnormal for the given area and time of year, going beyond the normal climatic fluctuations that the energy company was obliged to predict and to which it must be prepared. It is important that the heat must be the direct and sole cause of the outages. If the outages are caused by a combination of heat and other factors - worn-out networks, lack of investment in modernization, lack of personnel, an error in load planning, lack of reserve capacity - then it will be very difficult to recognize force majeure," the lawyer believes.

In such situations, people have the right to a recalculation of fees and even compensation for moral damage, says Aliyev. You can refer to the violation by energy companies of the requirements for the quality of the utility service specified in RF Government Resolution No. 354 "On the Provision of Utilities". For each hour of deviation from the standard parameters, including a complete lack of voltage, in excess of the established duration, the amount of payment for the billing period is reduced by 0.15% for each hour of excess of the permissible duration of the interruption. There are also standards for the permissible duration of interruptions, usually 24 hours in total per month.

“Abnormal heat in itself cannot exempt energy workers from liability. Residents have the right to demand a recalculation of the fee for the service not received, compensation for damages and bringing the guilty parties to administrative responsibility through regulatory authorities - Rospotrebnadzor, the State Housing Inspectorate, the prosecutor's office,” the lawyer said.

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