Heavy rains hit Greater São Paulo on the afternoon of Saturday, December 27, leaving nearly 160,000 homes without electricity. The state government set up a crisis cabinet to address the storms and excessive heat. Utility company Enel reported outages across several municipalities, with the capital most affected.
On the afternoon of Saturday, December 27, heavy rains and winds caused power outages in Greater São Paulo, affecting 159,887 homes, or 1.88% of Enel customers. According to the company's monitoring panel, São Paulo capital had 139,284 homes without power at the time of publication, followed by Osasco (8,060), Embu (4,528), Cotia (2,433), Taboão da Serra (1,513), and Carapicuíba (1,459). The most proportionally impacted municipalities were Embu, São Paulo, Osasco, and Taboão da Serra.
Around 5:50 p.m., Enel reported 166,800 homes without power in the capital and metropolitan area, equating to 1.9% of customers. The figure dropped to 73,100 (0.86%) by around 11 p.m. The municipal Civil Defense declared a state of attention for flooding at 3:50 p.m., raising it to attention status by 6:30 p.m., with four impassable points until 5:30 p.m. The state Civil Defense issued a severe alert for heavy rains in the capital's center and north, noting 16 tree falls in the area.
Intense heat, with 35.1°C recorded at 3 p.m. in Mirante de Santana, combined with maritime breeze, led to moderate to heavy rains, per the Emergency Management Center (CGE). The attention status for high temperatures has been in place since December 22. The National Meteorology Institute (Inmet) maintains a high-danger alert for a heat wave affecting 1,284 municipalities, including São Paulo.
Due to forecasted rains and temperatures 5°C above average, the state government established a crisis cabinet. This incident worsens the energy crisis: on December 10, winds left two million without power, following failures in 2023 and 2024. Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira, Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, and Mayor Ricardo Nunes announced that Aneel will start proceedings to terminate Enel's contract, including due process and full defense.
