Leiria Urges E-Redes to Send Crews as 90,000 Await Power and Compensation

The Portugal Intermunicipal Community of Leiria Region (CIMRL) has formally pressed E-Redes for extra crews and equipment, a step that will decide how quickly lights, heating and phone chargers come back for tens of thousands of families still in the dark after the twin winter storms Kristin and Leonardo.

Why This Matters

• 90 000 customers remain without power a week after the storms; some villages have already endured 7 consecutive nights without heat.

• Mobile networks and water pumps are failing in pockets of Leiria, so electricity restoration also dictates drinking-water safety and emergency calls.

• E-Redes’ own plan will lift network access tariffs by 1.5 % in 2026; households could feel a 0.6 % rise on final bills next winter.

• Residents can claim automatic compensation once an outage exceeds 12 hours—but they must file with their supplier within 30 days.

From Falling Poles to Prolonged Blackouts

The back-to-back depressions ripped through central Portugal on 28 January, toppling an estimated 1 050 electricity poles and shredding over 1 300 km of lines in Leiria alone. While high- and medium-tension feeds were mostly re-energised by 2 February, the low-tension grid—the cable that runs to your meter—remains the bottleneck. Each torn service drop means sending a two-person team house-by-house, explaining why Leiria still hosts nearly two-thirds of Portugal’s remaining outages.

Emergency Response: What E-Redes Has (and Hasn’t) Done

Faced with the outcry, E-Redes rushed 1 200 technicians, 450 generators and three mobile substations into the district. Drones now trace wire routes through pine forest, while military engineers clear debris so cherry-pickers can pass. Even so, CIMRL president Gonçalo Lopes argues the company underestimated the human-intensive work at street level, hence the plea for “reinforcements, even from abroad”.

Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho supports the call and reiterates that only 20 % of Portugal’s distribution cables are buried, compared with roughly 45 % in Spain and Italy. Her ministry wants Brussels to let member states channel cohesion funds into undergrounding rural feeders, branding it a climate-adaptation priority.

What This Means for Residents

• Restoration Timeline: E-Redes targets 95 % reconnection by 10 February and “practical normality” before March. Rural hamlets on single spur lines will be last.

• Tariff Impact: The distributor’s 2026-2030 investment plan—€1.6 B, 50 % above the last cycle—has earned a green light from ERSE, the Portugal energy regulator. That funding model translates into a €0.30–€0.60 monthly bump on an average household bill starting in the spring tariff revision.

• Compensation & Safety: Under Decree-Law 557/2013, customers are entitled to automatic credits once service is out for 12 h (urban) or 24 h (rural). Keep generator exhausts outside—fire marshals in Leiria have already blamed one death on carbon-monoxide poisoning from improvised equipment.

Business Angle: Counting the Losses

The local mould-making cluster—responsible for nearly 15 % of Portugal’s automotive tooling exports—reports production halted for up to five days. TJ Moldes in Marinha Grande warns it may miss delivery windows for clients like Porsche, risking penalty clauses. The business chamber NERLEI forecasts regional damage near €4 B, once spoiled inventory, overtime repairs and lost shifts are tallied.

Meanwhile, hotels in Nazaré offer discounted rooms to residents needing hot showers, while telecom operators MEO and Vodafone say at least 150 mobile towers still rely on portable gensets. Without stable power, data speeds drop, affecting remote work and digital classes across the district.

Long-Term Fixes on the Table

Selective undergrounding of the most storm-prone feeders—E-Redes pilots start in Batalha and Pombal later this year.

Smart sectionalising switches that reroute power automatically; 500 additional devices are budgeted for 2027.

Community-scale battery banks near critical facilities (health centres, water treatment plants) to keep them live for eight hours if the grid fails again.

A new “storm clause” under study at ERSE could force distributors to stock a minimum number of mobile generators per 10 000 customers.

The Bottom Line for Investors & Expats

Leiria’s blackout saga is a stark reminder that Portugal’s energy transition still hinges on grid resiliency. Bigger capital outlays are coming, and with them slightly higher tariffs—yet the payoff is fewer cold, dark nights when Atlantic weather turns ugly. For property buyers, check whether the nearest lines are overhead or underground; for business owners, review your continuity plans and add a phone-charged UPS to the expense sheet. Above all, expect infrastructure to top the political agenda well into the 2026 legislative cycle.