The General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) evaluated the Rational Use of Energy Plan, also known as PURE of the National Gas Regulatory Authority, ENARGAS, decided to encourage conservation by providing discounts for low consumption, however, they noted that they "did not have a significant impact" and that from the beginning, "with the exception of 2004, the result was the opposite to that expected."

The program was created under the aegis of the Energy Department in 2004, in order to encourage users to reduce or maintain the consumption of natural gas through a system of rewards and punishments. In case someone lowered their gas consumption, "they will receive a discount on their utility bills as an incentive." Instead, those who have increased "must pay additional charges for consumption, to be charged by the lending service firms, who must deposit these amounts in the Trust Fund that ENARGAS will indicate".

In spite of this, according to data released in the report approved this year, "in 2006 and 2007 there was more increment than reduction" in the use of gas.

The report specifies that the reference period for comparing the cost of the users was the year 2003. But, according to the auditors, to keep this period as a reference for a long time, meant that some variables were not contemplated, for example, the change in the composition of households, purchases, and the physical location of consumers, among others. This "creates inequities" between the different participants of the program, which "translates into savings and excess consumption beyond the control of the users," and that "it may happen that in some cases users that had consumed more cubic yards paid lower amounts than those that used less amounts".

As the Federal Watchdog explains, through Resolution 624/05, it was stated that "the funds raised due to an increase in utilities must be deposited by the licensee for distribution services in Trust Funds", created a year earlier, for the execution of construction jobs. However, the report, which analyzed the period May 2008 to May 2009 revealed that ENARGAS "could not handle the amounts deposited in the accounts of the various Funds" and noted that "although the methodology does not provide the controls that the entity must perform from the information provided by the providers, it is clear that since they run the program, the audited body –is who- should carry out the evaluations and controls.”

The watchdog said that "a record was opened at ENARGAS (No. 13.520/08) named 'Audit Program application of Rational Use of Energy (PURE) year 2008 - Debts Determination' for an amount of nearly $ 248 million, although the AGN indicated that, "close up, it was not an audit because, for example, there wasn’t a confrontation of deposits or transfers declared with the corresponding bank statements. In fact, "the Body was limited to the collection-of-affidavits without any control."