Utility Rate Backlash Spotlights Argentina's Energy Troubles

Soaring gas and electricity bills in Argentina have sparked consumer outrage and highlight the trouble the government faces as it tries to cut billions of dollars in energy subsidies.

“People are going to have to choose between eating and paying the bills,” Carlos Ulrich, an opposition representative in the Lower House, said Tuesday.

Ulrich’s comments come as residential consumers receive gas and electricity bills that in some cases are over 400% higher than during the last billing period.
Newspapers, television and radio shows have been repeatedly interviewing people who indignantly voice frustration over the disproportionately large rate hikes. The issue has become a dominant theme around the nation’s dinner tables.

Meanwhile, courts around the country have been striking down the rate hikes and opposition parties have seized on the issue to bash the government.

“Energy policies have been either nonexistent or bad for the country,” said Ulrich, who sits on a congressional energy committee. “The government has failed in this.”

Wall Street Journal (through Google News)