Peronist blocs in both chambers of the Mendoza Legislature introduced a proposal to summon Energy and Environment Minister Jimena Latorre over the tender for the Los Nihuiles Hydroelectric System. The proposed hearing also includes the presidents of state-owned companies that participated in the joint provincial and national process. Its stated purpose is to explain the scope of a concession planned for 30 years and the responsibility assigned to each agency.
The motion asks Latorre to report to the Legislature on the status, conditions and provincial effects of the process carried out under Decree 1436/2026. The opposition argues that the decision involves water, energy and royalties and says the procedure lacked sufficient parliamentary oversight. Those claims form part of the political grounds for the motion; the summons must still be approved before the minister is required to answer in person.
Los Nihuiles is strategic infrastructure for Mendoza because it manages the Atuel River's use for hydroelectric generation and irrigation in the province's south. The Peronist blocs therefore argue that the debate concerns more than a company's operation: it affects the assets and resources tied to the system. They want details on how those assets were valued, where concession proceeds will go and what participation each public entity will retain.
The main legal and operational challenge concerns the tender's design. According to the Peronist lawmakers, Law 9,630, which declared an emergency in the hydroelectric system, provided for an integrated tender combining Los Nihuiles and the Diamante complex under one concession. The executive instead pursued a separate process for Los Nihuiles and excluded Diamante. The opposition wants Latorre to identify the legal and technical basis for departing from that model.
The summons follows previous requests for information that received no response from the provincial Government. The Peronist blocs say the administrative route has been exhausted and extend the invitation to the boards of public companies to reconstruct each one's involvement. They also demand clarity on ownership and the eventual destination of the assets, a sensitive matter in a tender shared by two levels of government.
The proposal's authors say their aim is not to stop the concession but to subject it to legislative oversight and ensure transparency before the system is committed for three decades. The next step is consideration in the Legislature: if the motion wins support, Latorre and the executives will have to appear; if it fails, questions concerning Diamante's exclusion, asset valuation and distribution of proceeds will remain without a parliamentary answer.
