The approval of the Electricity Rate Stabilization project by the Senate last week has marked a milestone in Chile’s energy policy. This project implies that, as of June of this year, the accounts of light will experience an increase in their prices, which has led the Government to implement a state subsidy to help the most vulnerable families and mitigate the impact on their pockets.
He subsidy due to the increase in electricity bills is intended to alleviate the financial burden that the progressive increase in electricity rates will entail. The measure will be applied asymmetrically, starting with an increase of $22 for four years and subsequently of $9 for eight years, until 2035. This increase seeks to settle a million-dollar debt with energy generating companies.
The Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow, has indicated that the subsidy It will be aimed at 40% of the Social Household Registry, that is, the most vulnerable families in the country. It is estimated that this benefit will cover one million households, approximately three million people. However, the exact amounts and application start dates have not yet been defined.
Although there is no concrete information about the amounts, the official site or the specific dates for applying to the subsidy, Minister Pardow has announced that a dissemination campaign will be carried out and assistance mechanisms will be implemented. It is expected that applications can begin in May, although there is still no official confirmation in this regard.
The main objective of this project is to mitigate the significant increases in the accounts of the light that were projected by the National Energy Commission (CNE). Without this initiative, bills would have experienced increases of up to 150%, which would have represented an unsustainable burden for many Chilean families.
