On February 25, 2022, the Second District Court in Administrative Matters Specialized in Antitrust, Broadcasting and Telecommunications (the "Court") granted a definitive injunction with general effects against the application of the new Grid Code (published on December 31, 2021 by the Energy Regulatory Commission through resolution number RES/550/2021 whereby the “General Administrative Provisions containing the criteria for efficiency, quality, reliability, continuity, safety and sustainability of the national electricity system: the Grid Code” were issued), in an amparo proceeding filed by several companies in the electricity sector.

The injunction is a type of precautionary measure or stay that seeks to maintain things in the state in which they are (and, therefore, that the challenged act is not enforced), until the merits of the dispute are analyzed and ruled on.

The definitive injunction will remain in force until the corresponding amparo proceeding is concluded and a final ruling is issued, unless it is revoked by a court of appeals (Federal Circuit Court) derived from a motion of appeal filed by any party in the amparo proceeding.

In the present case, the Court determined that the injunction should have general effects since the new Grid Code grants discretionary authority and obligations of a technical nature, to the National Energy Control Center (CENACE) and the users of the National Electric System (the "Grid"), respectively, which could result in prioritizing the operation of fossil fuel-based power plants over the production of electricity through renewable energies.

As context, the new Grid Code modified certain aspects of the previous regulation, among them, the order for decreasing generation from power plants in operative states of alert in the Grid, moving power plants in testing period and dispatchable intermittent generation (renewables) to the top of the curtailment list.