The CAMSA-ENGIMORE consortium has sued Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica, S.A. (ETESA) after the public entity withdrew the project without consulting the consortium, which would have prevented the delivery of part of the contracted products. As the promoting institution of the project, it was Etesa's responsibility to manage the procedures for the approval of the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) before MiAmbiente. Subsequently, Etesa appealed the admission before the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Justice, which ratified the decision to admit the administrative contractual lawsuit. The Panamanian State considers the Fourth Transmission Line a pillar of the National Energy Plan 2015-2050, with the aim of stabilizing the cost of electricity, supporting energy demand, reinforcing energy security, transporting renewable energy from the west of the country and advancing electrical interconnection with Colombia. However, the withdrawal of the Environmental Impact Study implies a delay in the construction of the Fourth Transmission Line, which, according to the National Energy Plan, published in Official Gazette 28003-A of April 5, 2016, should have started in 2018 and concluded in 2020. Of that amount, $428,000 correspond to products delivered to Etesa, while $395,900 would be for products impossible to deliver due to the withdrawal of the EIA. The Third Chamber of the Supreme Court admitted the lawsuit, with magistrate María Cristina Chen Stanziola as the presenter.
