Distributor asks Aneel director to break the vote – 09/28/2024 – Market

Amazonas Energia filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Amazonas asking the general director of Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency), Sandoval Feitosa, to resolve the issue of transferring corporate control of the distributor to the J&F group, owned by the brothers Baptist.

The agency’s board meeting held this Friday (27) ended in a draw, with directors Fernando Mosna, rapporteur of the process, and Ricardo Tili voting not to comply with the preliminary court decision that ordered the corporate change. Sandoval Feitosa and director Agnes da Costa understood that it was necessary to comply with the decision.

The company asks the general director to comply with the decision monocratically within 24 hours, which would also apply to authorizing the conversion of thermal contracts purchased from Eletrobras by the J&F group in the North region.

According to the distributor, there is precedent from the STF (Supreme Federal Court) “in the sense that the president has the right to a casting vote in cases of a tie when this occurs, among other hypotheses, as a result of a vacancy not filled by more than 30 (thirty) ) days”.

If the court accepts the request and the director does not comply, the company requests that “the agents involved” be removed and arrested. In this case, the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) must still choose an intervener, also within 24 hours, to comply with the determinations.

When contacted, Aneel did not respond until the publication of this report. The MME said in a statement that the impasse is due to the decision “by some directors to disregard a sentence handed down by a federal judge, in total violation of the law, the democratic rule of law and the judiciary.”

“The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, has already formally warned —through official letter— and in statements to the press about non-compliance with public policies by the agency’s directors, denouncing distortions in the fulfillment of the legal powers established for the body regulator”, said the ministry.

On Monday (23), judge Maria Pinto Fraxe, of the 1st Federal Civil Court of the Judiciary Section of Amazonas, determined, as a preliminary injunction, that Aneel approve within 48 hours, counting from receipt of the subpoena, the transfer plan of the Amazonas distributor presented by Futura Venture Capital Participações and the Fundo de Investimento em Participações Infraestrutura Milano, which represent J&F.

In practice, the tie at the agency meeting led to non-compliance with the court order.

With a net debt of more than R$11 billion, of which Eletrobras is the main creditor, and a series of serious operational problems, Amazonas Energia is currently controlled by the Oliveira Energia group, which has been trying to get rid of the concession for almost two years. .

J&F sought to take over the distributor within the requirements set out in MP (provisional measure) 1,232 and presented a sanitation plan, which, however, was discarded by Aneel’s technical area as it was considered expensive and inefficient.

The proposal will cost energy consumers across the country R$15.8 billion, practically double the R$8 billion estimated by the agency’s technicians, without solving the distributor’s chronic problem.

J&F representatives tried to overcome the problem in the technical area, filing a new proposal, between Thursday and Friday, which Aneel did not have time to evaluate.

Since May, when Hélvio Guerra’s term ended, the Aneel board has experienced a division of forces with just four directors.

On one side, there are Fernando Mosna and Ricardo Tili, linked to the former executive secretary of Mines and Energy, Efraim Cruz, who was seen as “the strong man in the sector” by the market. On the other, there are general director Sandoval Feitosa and Agnes Costa.

In recent months, votes have ended in ties, leaving issues unresolved. With the appointment of the fifth director, already appointed by Silveira, the government believes that it will be possible to obtain a majority to unlock projects of interest.

Responsible for monitoring and inspecting Brazil’s electricity sector, Aneel is linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy and controls all electricity distribution across the country.

In August, Silveira sent a letter to Sandoval Feitosa threatening to intervene in Aneel if the board did not meet deadlines defined by government measures, such as tariff reduction and the pole sharing policy.