Rules for self-generation approved by the Senate are disastrous, energy distributors say

Electricity distributors say that the text of the new legal framework for own energy generation approved by the Senate this Wednesday (15) does not comply with an agreement made by the sector in the Chamber of Deputies and will cause more harm to consumers.

For the entity, the changes added in the Senate “are disastrous” for the consumer who will remain a customer of the distributors, as they put on him additional benefit costs guaranteed to those who can migrate to the new model.

The text regulates the so-called distributed energy generation, a model in which consumers invest to generate their own electricity, by installing solar panels in their homes, commercial establishments or industry, or by joining generation condominiums.

The approved rules extend to 2045 discounts on network usage rates for consumers who have some type of their own generation. To guarantee the discount, the project must be in operation or have requested access to the network within a period of up to 12 months after the publication of the law.

Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) was considering ending the discount, but was rejected by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who argued that his government would not “tax the sun”. , who need to fund the network themselves.

The new milestone for the sector advanced in the Chamber after an agreement between all the parties involved. This Thursday (16), however, Abradee (Brazilian Association of Electric Energy Distributors) said in a note that the agreement was not complied with.

The association complains about the insertion of three amendments to the text approved by the Chamber. “The inserted devices excessively expand the subsidy and distort the concept of distributed generation”, he says. “Again, these costs are tossed on to other consumers.”

The first amendment criticized by Abradee allows the fractioning of larger solar projects to be classified as distributed generation. A 30 MW plant, for example, can be divided into 10 3 MW projects to receive discounts on the electricity grid usage fee.

The second allows for the classification of SHPs (small hydroelectric plants) of up to 30 MW. Plants of this size, says the association, can serve up to 78 thousand families, who will not pay distribution costs, charges and electrical losses until 2045.

The third allows the migration of enterprises that already sell energy on the free market, where these fees are charged, to distributed generation. Your customers just have to terminate their current contracts and sign new ones under the new model to receive discounts.

The approval of the text in the Senate was celebrated by entities linked to renewable energy, as a step towards guaranteeing predictability and legal certainty for investments in the sector.

“The own generation of solar energy is currently one of the best alternatives to avoid tariff flags and, thus, alleviate the pockets of citizens and entrepreneurs in this period of water scarcity,” said the president of Absolar (Brazilian Association of Solar Energy) in a statement. Photovoltaic), Rodrigo Sauaia.

As it was modified by the Senate, the text will once again be considered by the Chamber of Deputies.

The possibility of reducing the electricity bill with discounts for distributed generation caused a rush of consumers for contracts in this model in recent years. The movement was accelerated by the risk of extinction of the benefit.

In 2021, according to Aneel, there were already 316,300 new connections. In 2020, there were 215.9 thousand. Residential consumers represent the largest number of migrations: 255.1 thousand in 2021 and 160.1 thousand in 2022.

But there is also great interest from commercial customers, who consume larger volumes of energy and today represent a third of all installed power to supply this market. They are shopping malls, retail chains and banks, for example, in search of cheaper energy and a sustainable image.

The rush to register new renewable energy projects worries authorities in the Brazilian electricity sector, who fear impacts on consumers’ pockets with the increase in electricity transmission costs in the country.

The concern is that any new transmission lines built to serve these projects will remain idle if the projects do not come out of the paper, unnecessarily burdening those who pay for the use of the network.