A recent Datafolha survey conducted in 71 municipalities throughout São Paulo has revealed that residents blame Enel, the concessionaire, more than their political leaders for ongoing power outages. In the survey, 49% of interviewed residents hold Enel primarily accountable for the blackouts, while only 16% point to the state governor Tarcísio de Freitas as responsible. More surprisingly, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and São Paulo's mayor Ricardo Nunes are even less frequently accused, with 14% and 6% of respondents, respectively, indicating their culpability.

The findings indicate a significant disconnect between public perception and the accountability that normally falls on elected officials during crises such as power outages. The relatively low percentage of blame directed toward Tarcísio, Lula, and Nunes suggests that the public's tolerance for leadership during difficulties may be skewed in favor of utility companies, indicating a perceived failure in service from companies like Enel that may need more rigorous scrutiny.

Moreover, the survey's margin of error of two percentage points leaves room for variation, but the trends suggest that Enel's public image appears to have improved slightly in comparison to earlier surveys, according to the company’s response to the data. This could lead to implications for future public policies and the way energy services are regulated in Brazil, especially in the context of climate change exacerbating such power issues.