Ayuso accuses Sánchez of "suffocating" Madrid by skimping on electricity

First "without water", and now "without electricity.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
15 January 2024 Monday 15:27
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Ayuso accuses Sánchez of "suffocating" Madrid by skimping on electricity

First "without water", and now "without electricity." Isabel Díaz Ayuso has found in the electricity plan outlined by Moncloa a new point of conflict to continue confronting the leader of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, criticizing the fact that Madrid is not going to be provided with new investments within the framework of the Development Plan of the Electric Energy Transmission Network 2021-2026. The central government wants to leave the region "without energy", putting "important industrial projects" at risk, she has pointed out.

Two months after denouncing that the Executive had approved a new Hydrological Plan for the Tagus that put "the water supply at risk", the president of the Community of Madrid stated during a Europa Press breakfast briefing that, if not corrected, the plan structured by the central Administration "will have very harmful consequences for Madrid."

The truth is that the accumulation of data centers in the capital has strained energy needs to the point that current structures have difficulty assuming peaks in demand. Reasons why Ayuso has accused the Government of "being intervening de facto and in a sibylline manner" in the capital.

"Now it intends to leave the region without the energy it needs to continue growing and consolidate itself as a digital node in southern Europe," added Ayuso who, however, has recognized that Madrid is not the only region without large investments in the framework of the 2021-2026 Development Plan endowed with 276 million.

Ayuso argues that "the distributors had requested around 80 actions in the Community of Madrid to have access to 2,947 more megawatts, with the aim of strengthening infrastructure, promoting new ones and promoting industrial investments", but regrets that the Government did not does not meet the needs of the region at all.

Ayuso has emphasized that it is "a sector of enormous importance for Madrid", since in the region "85% of the data center infrastructures in all of Spain are concentrated" and "the investments planned for 2026 exceed the 16,000 million." In his opinion, "if the proposed plan were approved, the creation of almost 18,000 direct and indirect jobs would be put at risk" and the decision "would paralyze 59 data center development projects."

Furthermore, the head of the Madrid Executive has stressed that "a highly technological industry is emerging around the Data Processing Centers, which is currently focused on Artificial Intelligence and which demands energy for its operation."

He considers, therefore, that "if this Energy Plan is not modified, Spain risks being relegated to the background in Europe and losing its grip on an engine of growth and high added value, contradicting the recommendations of the Digital Agenda 2026 published by the Government. central".