The national government transferred ownership of the Río Escondido Hydroelectric Plant to the firm Hidden Lake , a company with a long track record, just like its owner, Joe Lewis .
Through Resolution 324/25, Javier Milei benefited the British magnate, adding to a series of similar controversial decisions made before the elections. "They're putting her together for the campaign," a prominent political leader who closely follows the ruling party's movements told LPO.
The hydroelectric plant is located in El Foyel, Río Negro , and is part of the lands involved in the historic conflict over access to Lago Escondido . Thanks to Javier Milei 's administration, it will be managed by Hidden Lake, a company that is listed as "the owner of thousands of hectares in Patagonia and has been hit with all kinds of complaints," the outlet reported.
Built under the guise of supplying the consumption and energy needs of Lewis 's private ranch, the plant has been selling energy to the national electricity system since 2017 under very favorable commercial conditions established during the Macri administration.
With “an installed capacity of 7.2 MW,” the hydroelectric plant “operates by taking half of the river’s flow, which averages 7 cubic meters per second. The pipeline that carries the water to the plant is 1.2 meters in diameter and was buried along the field” and is a “strategic infrastructure that began to inject energy into the national system during the government of Mauricio Macri, when it entered the Alternative Energy RenovAr program promoted by former minister Juan José Aranguren,” El Argentino Diario stated, adding that the hydroelectric plant “benefited from preferential rates that, according to specialized sources, allow Lewis to charge ten times more per megawatt than what the state-owned hydroelectric plant Salto Grande receives.”
The complex is located on the right bank of the Escondido River, “near kilometer 1,948 of National Route No. 40, in the department of Bariloche,” reported the Más Energía portal, adding that “it connects to the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI) through a 33 kilovolt (kV) underground cable that reaches the El Bolsón transformer station, owned by the Río Negro Energy Company Limited (EDERSA).”
The General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ) has been denouncing Hidden Lake for years. In 2022, it requested its judicial intervention and eventual liquidation, alleging that the company is merely a "front" to hide the true ownership: that of British magnate Joe Lewis , who "since the late 1990s has purchased more than 12,000 hectares in a border security zone, in an operation that the Ministry of the Interior itself described as illegal," LPO noted.
In 2023, a government report indicated that Hidden Lake SA is a "shell company" that does not produce agricultural goods as claimed, but rather serves as an excuse to cover up the appropriation of Hidden Lake.
Joe Lewis , owner of a fortune that is among the twelve largest in the United Kingdom according to Forbes and among the five hundred richest people in the world, "irregularly acquired 12,000 hectares in the Argentine province of Río Negro, five kilometers from the border with Chile and with an immense reserve of fresh water inside," LPO said.
Lewis has a history of scandals and in April 2024, he was sentenced to three years of suspended prison by the Manhattan courts in the United States , having to admit to the American justice system that he used insider information. To get out of jail, Lewis paid five million dollars, which he considers a mere trifle.
Hidden Lake manager Nicolas Van Ditmar is a local real estate developer who has been charged with imprisonment, piracy, and sedition.
Until now, the hydroelectric plant was operated by Patagonia Energía , owned by Hidden Lake . Both companies have Van Ditmar as CEO. The hydroelectric plant has an installed capacity of 7.2 MW. The river has an average flow of 7 cubic meters per second, of which the plant consumes half at its maximum capacity.
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