Government proposes reform of electricity sector with expansion of social tariff

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, reported on Tuesday (13) to the Mining and Energy Committee of the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília, some details about the project to restructure the Brazilian electricity sector. The Federal Government's project, which has not yet been released, aims to balance the sector and is expected to be voted on by the National Congress in September. Silveira reported some points in the proposal. Among them is the increase in the limit of consumption eligible for the social tariff on the electricity bill. The industrial sector will have to pay more for energy consumption.

Check out the points listed by the Minister

• Adjustment in the distribution of subsidies in energy tariffs, ensuring that the largest consumers are more heavily burdened;
• More balanced distribution of sectoral burdens;
• Increase in the consumption range eligible for the social tariff on the electricity bill, from 50 kW to 80 kW;
• Expansion of the free energy market to include medium and small consumers.

_{Minister Alexandre Silveira highlighted the urgency of reforming the electricity sector in a Committee at the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday (13) (Photo: reproduction/Renato Araújo/Chamber of Deputies)}

Whoever consumes more will pay more

The Minister explained that the largest energy consumers will be responsible for paying a higher Energy Development Account (CDE) and other tariffs.It is the tariff value proportional to consumption. Those who consume more pay more, those who consume less pay less. Unfortunately, today we have a tariff distortion, the poor pay more and the rich pay less. We want to correct this and allocate resources according to consumption. Normally, low-income households consume less and pay the same amount of CDE as the rich who buy energy on the free market.”, declared Alexandre Silveira.

Government intends to expand market

The proposal aims to open the market so that residential consumers can choose who will be their electricity supplier. Existing in the country since the 1990s, until now, only large consumers had access to the free market.

Alexandre Silveira also argued that new ways of financing the electricity sector should be found, in addition to the CDE. He pointed out as an example the use of resources from oil auctions by the state-owned company Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (PPSA).

The Federal Government will submit the bill to Congress by September. The Minister stressed that without reform, the Brazilian electricity sector will collapse.

Featured Photo: Transmission towers in Campinas, São Paulo (Reproduction: Ricardo Funari/Getty Images Embed)