Entity questions Aneel for delaying cases with a billion-dollar cost on the electricity bill – 10/17/2023 – Market

The National Energy Consumers Front formalized at Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) a motion to complain about the delay in judging nine cases with potential billion-dollar costs on the electricity bill.

In the protest filed this Monday (16), the entity says that the agency’s director Ricardo Tili has been delaying the progress of the actions.

The front reinforces that the slowness in decision-making even motivated the interference of the TCU (Federal Audit Court) to try to resolve these cases, in a move that the entity considers equally inappropriate.

All processes deal with thermal plants from the PCS (Simplified Competitive Procedure), an emergency auction held during the 2021 water crisis for the construction of new plants with more expensive and polluting energy.

Most of them did not meet the deadline established in the contract, which led to debates at Aneel, the body responsible for monitoring and demanding compliance with contracts in the energy sector.

However, the situation of a group of companies has not been defined for almost a year at the agency due to the backlog of processes, highlights the entity.

“The agency is not fulfilling its role as a regulatory body, and the TCU, unduly, entered this discussion, closing agreements that are disadvantageous for energy consumers”, says Luiz Eduardo Barata, president of the front.

The entity has the support of industry federations in the states of Minas Gerais and Sergipe and represents 12 associations, including the Polis Institute, which supports low-income consumers, Abrace Energia, which includes the country’s largest industries, and the Idec (Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection).

Tili is rapporteur for five of the nine processes and does not deliberate on any.

Four of them deal with thermal plants from the Turkish company Karpowership, also known by the acronym KPS, and another involves a project by Tradener, an independent trader of electricity and natural gas, focusing on free consumers and independent producers.

Tili also asked to see and not resubmit four other processes regarding projects by Âmbar, the energy arm of J&F, which controls JBS, the largest meat company in the world.

With no solution to the impasses at Aneel, the TCU entered the debate at the request of the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy). The agreements are being closed by Secex Consenso (Secretariat for Consensual Resolution and Conflict Prevention).

This area was created this year on the initiative of the President of the Court, Minister Bruno Dantas, to seek reconciliation between the public and private sectors and avoid legal disputes.

The National Energy Consumers Front requests the Aneel board, especially the general director Sandoval Feitosa, to conclude the judgments based on the legislation and current contracts, highlighting that the delay borders on the misuse of function.

“The possible persistence in omission regarding final decisions in relation to these processes will be understood as a failure by Aneel to fulfill its functions as a regulatory body”, states the motion.

“The lack of decisions, especially on such relevant topics, is harmful to society as a whole, especially to energy consumers, who are at serious risk of being unduly burdened if the contracts in question are not fully complied with.”

According to the entity, Aneel has the necessary legal instruments to resolve the differences, and the delays caused by director Tili contributed to the cases being unduly taken to negotiation at the TCU.

Of the three companies mentioned in the motion, the first agreement at TCU was signed with KPS. The cost to the consumer this year, which would have been almost R$3 billion, ended up being around R$2.4 billion.

The agreement with Âmbar is in the final stage of negotiation and has not yet received approval from the Court. Currently, as none of the company’s plants came into operation on time and, for now, there is no cost on the electricity bill.

According to Sheet found, under the agreement under construction, Âmbar could exchange the four new thermal plants for an old one, the Cuiabá plant, with the right to annual revenue of R$ 1.44 billion, for seven years, which totals a little more than R$ $10 billion over the period to be borne by consumers.

When contacted by the report, Aneel stated, through its press office, that it is analyzing the document to comment later.

Tradener said, in a statement, that it does not comment on initiatives by the National Energy Consumers Front or issues involving Aneel. Regarding his plant, he stated that “it has been complying and will continue to strictly comply” with the deadlines that were presented and requested from the company.

TCU and KPS stated that they would not comment. J&F did not comment until the publication of this text.