Measure approved by the Chamber increases tariffs for consumers, says Aneel

The National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) stated that maintaining the stability of generator tariffs, provided for in the Draft Legislative Decree (PDL) approved this Wednesday (9) by the Chamber of Deputies, means that the burden of expanding the system will fall on consumers, making tariffs more expensive.

The regulatory agency informed that the end of tariff stabilization seeks greater balance in the payment of the expansion of the transmission network between consumers and generators.

“Currently, all the risk of fluctuating transmission costs falls on consumers and generators that do not have a stabilized tariff. It is important to highlight, however relevant, that in the last transmission auctions, approximately R$ 50 billion were contracted in investments that have not yet entered the tariffs, and that approximately R$ 50 billion is expected to be contracted in 2023 alone. .

The PDL, which is now being analyzed by the Senate, overturns two normative resolutions issued by the regulatory agency. The first, in June, ended the method of stabilizing transmission rates.

The mechanism allowed tariff stability over 10 tariff cycles for auction winners, with the aim of balancing transmission costs between generators and energy consumers.

The other, approved in September, established a new methodology that intensifies the use of the so-called “locational signal”. This rule determines that all dimensions of network use will be considered, such as the distance from the plant to the consumer and not just the volume of energy.

In a note, the agency stated that it “acts in strict compliance with its institutional competences” and that the legal provision for the definition of transmission rates and use of the locational signal are established in the law that created the regulatory body, in 1996, and ratified by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME).

In addition, Aneel informed that the decisions were taken with ample dialogue, transparency and analysis of all contributions in the public consultation.

According to Aneel, the measures lead to the optimization of the operation and expansion of the electricity sector, benefiting consumers, especially those consumers located in the Northeast and North regions, as they are in the regions that lead the expansion of generation, will have the greatest tariff reductions.

“Consumers in the Northeast Region will have a tariff reduction of, on average, 2.4%, the North Region will see a reduction of 0.8%, the Midwest Region will have practically no impact, while there will be a 0.5% increase in tariffs. tariffs in the Southeast Region and 1.5% in the South Region, which is further away from the generation centers”, says the note.