Aneel maintains electricity bill without additional charges in December

The National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) decided this Friday (24) to maintain the green flag in December for all consumers connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN). As a result, consumers will not pay an extra fee on their electricity bill next month. The electricity bill has been without these fees since the end of the water scarcity flag, which lasted from September 2021 until mid-April 2022.

According to Aneel, at the time the green flag was chosen due to the favorable conditions for energy generation, with the reservoirs of the hydroelectric plants at satisfactory levels. The reservoir storage level, reported the regulatory agency, reached 87% on average at the beginning of the dry period, which explains the favorable scenario at the moment, reported the Brazil Agency.

In August, Aneel approved a public consultation to reduce tariff flags by up to 36.9%. The agency cited three factors to justify the reduction: full reservoirs, expansion of wind and solar energy and a drop in the international price of fossil fuels.

Created in 2015 by Aneel, the tariff flags reflect the variable costs of generating electricity. Divided into levels, the flags indicate how much it is costing the SIN to generate the energy used in homes, commercial establishments and industries.

When the electricity bill is calculated using the green flag, there is no increase. When the red or yellow flags are applied, the bill undergoes increases, ranging from R$2,989 (yellow flag) to R$9,795 (red flag level 2) for every 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) consumed. When the water scarcity flag was in effect, from September 2021 to April 15, 2022, the consumer paid an extra R$14.20 for every 100 kWh.

The National Interconnected System is divided into four subsystems: Southeast/Central-West, South, Northeast and North. Practically the entire country is covered by SIN. The exception is some parts of states in the North Region and Mato Grosso, in addition to the entire state of Roraima. Currently, there are 212 isolated SIN locations, where consumption is low and represents less than 1% of the country’s total load. The demand for energy in these regions is mainly supplied by diesel-fueled thermal plants.