Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also added that he regretted the statements made by the president of Endesa, Nuno Ribeiro da Silva, about possible increases in electricity from August, which he classified as “alarmist”.

“The Portuguese have the right to know how much they will pay for electricity. ERSE has already issued a document, but we need further clarification. I myself had some difficulty understanding”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in statements broadcast by RTP3.

The controversy began with an interview with the president of Endesa to Antena 1 and Jornal de Negócios, in which Nuno Ribeiro da Silva warned of possible tariff increases of 40% because of the Iberian mechanism to limit the price of natural gas for electricity production.

On Sunday, and in reaction to the interview, the Regulatory Authority for Energy Services (ERSE) issued a statement explaining that the “Iberian brake” has costs that have to be borne by consumers, but that the benefit of lower electricity prices is higher than cost.

The situation led the prime minister to sign an order on contracts between the State and Endesa – valued at around 100 million euros. In this case, payments are subject to prior assessment by the Secretary of State for the Environment and Energy, João Galamba.

In the future, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa defended, energy companies should have more common sense and pay greater attention to social responsibility. With social responsibility comes the common sense of not having alarmist or speculative interventions that create disturbance in the community. It's the bare minimum,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.