Haddad says the government is concerned about the cost of electricity

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated this Monday (1st) that the government is concerned about the cost of energy in Brazil. Earlier, Haddad met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and the ministers of the Civil House, Rui Costa, and of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, to discuss the compatibility of wind and solar energy generation schedules with transmission line auctions.

The expectation is that the federal government will issue a provisional measure (MP) to reduce energy tariffs in the coming days. The text, which is being analyzed by the Civil House, foresees an average reduction of 3.5% in electricity bills and the extension of subsidies for renewable energy plants. According to Haddad, the initiative will have no fiscal impact.

“We are involved in the discussion because we are concerned about the cost of energy. We want to generate cheap energy to solve this problem that has accumulated over the years,” the minister told journalists after leaving the meeting.

Haddad pointed out that the lack of bidding for transmission lines meant that some deadlines were not met. “As this process has now been completed, you can open a deadline to see if there is an expression of interest… The generation and transmission schedules have become mismatched,” he stated.