The new loan to electric energy distributors to cover the costs of the water crisis should reach up to R$ 10.8 billion, announced today (3) the technical area of the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel). The proposal was presented at an extraordinary meeting of the body by director Efrain Pereira da Cruz, rapporteur on the topic, and depends on the approval of the other directors.
The credit operation, which aims to reduce the rise in the electricity bill in 2022, will be divided into two installments. The first part of the loan totals R$5.6 billion and will be submitted for public consultation until the 13th.
This portion intends to cover the deficit in the tariff flags account in April 2022, after the end of the water scarcity flag collection. The money will also cover last year’s July and August energy imports and the bonus awarded to consumers who saved energy.
The second part of the loan will have its value closed in May, but Aneel has estimated it at R$ 5.2 billion, so far. The last installment intends to partially cover the costs of thermoelectric plants contracted in December last year, through a simplified auction.
According to Aneel’s technical area, without any mitigation measure, the energy bill would rise 21% in 2022. The operation aims to prevent the costs of the 2021 energy crisis from being fully passed on to consumers this year. With the loan, the distributors will assume these extra costs, repaying the banks in the coming years.
Despite avoiding a greater increase in energy in 2022, the credit operation, according to the proposal presented today, will be paid by consumers from 2023. The money will be charged in the form of a new charge on the electricity bill until the distributors pay off the financing. It will be up to the banks and the Electric Energy Commercialization Chamber (CCEE) to define the loan term.
According to the government, the financing will be allocated to distributors, who collect the amounts from consumers through the electricity bill and will pay the energy generating and transmitting companies that also bear the higher cost of electricity during the water crisis in the reservoirs.
provisional measure
The loan to distributors was authorized by Provisional Measure 1,078, published in December. The financing is intended to amortize the financial impact of the drought on the cash of companies in the electricity sector.
On January 14, a decree signed by President Jair Bolsonaro created the Water Scarcity Account. Administered by the CCEE, this account will receive the necessary resources to cover “totally or partially the additional costs arising from the situation of water scarcity for concessionaires and permissionaires of public electric energy distribution service”.
* Collaborated with Pedro Peduzzi
