Understand the new rules of the Social Electricity Tariff

The National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) this week regulated the automatic inclusion in the Social Electricity Tariff for low-income families. Currently, 12.3 million families benefit from the tariff and the government expects that more than 11 million will have access to the benefit.

According to Aneel, the criteria for granting benefits have not changed. Can receive the Social Energy Tariff:

• Families enrolled in the Federal Government’s Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico), with monthly family income per capita less than or equal to half the national minimum wage;
• Seniors aged 65 or over or people with disabilities who receive the Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC);
• Family enrolled in CadÚnico with monthly income of up to three minimum wages, that has a member with a disease or disability.

The main change is that, as of January 2022, families who meet the criteria for receiving the benefit, but who are not yet registered, will be incorporated through the crossing of data from the systems of the Ministry of Citizenship and of the distributors of energy. Automatic registration will take place on a monthly basis.

The rate brings discounts on the monthly consumption value of beneficiary families. For families that consume up to 30 kilowatts/hour, the reduction is 65%; from 31 to 100 kWh/month, the value is 40% lower; from 101 kWh to 220 kWh, the reduction is 10%. Above 220 kWh/month the cost of energy is similar to that of consumers who do not receive the benefit.

Indigenous and Quilombola families have greater discounts. Families registered in CadÚnico have a discount of 100% up to the consumption limit of 50 kWh/month, 40% for consumption from 51 kWh/month, 10% for consumption from 101 kWh to 220 kWh. For indigenous peoples and quilombolas who consume more than 220 kWh/month, the cost is similar to that of consumers without the benefit.

According to Aneel, no one will be unsubscribed with the new rule. Only those who fail to meet the criteria provided for in the law or do not update their records from the Ministry of Economy will not receive the benefit.

Problems

A family can be prevented from registering for the rate if no one in the household has the name on the electricity bill they receive each month. In this case, it is necessary to look for the local distributor and regularize the information.

If the family has an outdated address in CadÚnico, it is also necessary to make the regularization. To receive the benefit, there can be no irregular connection of energy, also known as “cat”.