The Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royón, affirmed that the tariff segmentation scheme that the national government will apply “It is a distributive policy with social meaning”and considered that “subsidies must be given to those who really need them”.
During a press conference in the Palacio de Hacienda microcinema to publicize the new values of electricity, gas and water servicesthe official also assured that in Argentina “the rational use of energy must be installed”.
The new gas and electricity consumption subsidy scheme includes segmentation according to users’ income, with differentiation according to the region of the country, and a reference cap to encourage efficiency and energy savings.
The announcement comes after a postponement that allowed to work details during this weekend.
Royón had indicated last week that the postponement was decided to work on the details that allow “to be as clear as possible and bring peace of mind to the population, since the update of rates will be in installments and will only affect sectors with high purchasing power. ”, when asked about the officialization of the new energy rates.
The scheme will also include specifications about segmentation and the consumption ceiling by area and sector, also taking into account factors such as climate.
Regarding the caps, the new values will start from maintaining the current rate at levels 2 (lower income) and 3 (middle income), but in the latter case consumption exceeding 400 kWh will not be subsidizedalthough it has yet to be specified whether this limit will be bimonthly or monthly.
“We have the maxim that this update of rates is below the index of salary variation coefficient and in installments”, detailed Royón, and stressed that the beneficiaries of the social rate “are not going to suffer a new update this year”.
The National Secretary of Energy clarified: “It is only a portion of the population that is going to suffer this update because it is the indication of the President” Alberto Fernández.
Regarding the subsidy scheme, Minister Massa had announced a few days after taking office that consumption caps will be added to segmentation to promote resource savings and a more progressive system of subsidies.
In this framework, he stressed that “those who consume less or have less income, pay less; those who consume more or have more income, pay more.”
