TCU tries to review Bolsonaro’s inheritance in electricity bills – 04/25/2023 – Panel SA

Without an agreement with the government, four energy companies must open negotiations with the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) to try to resolve an impasse that today increases the cost of the electricity bill by 4.49% – R$ 9 billion a year.

This possibility was opened by an order from the president of the court, Bruno Dantas, who authorized the negotiations and the suspension of the processes involving KPS (Karpowership Brasil Energia), Âmbar Energia (from the Batista brothers), Linhares and Barra Bonita I ( linked to Tradener).

For this, the rapporteur of the processes at the TCU, Minister Benjamin Zimler, will have to agree and submit his decision to the full court. The case should be discussed this Wednesday (26).

There is enormous pressure from the government for this conflict to be resolved by the TCU’s Consensual Conflict Resolution group.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Mines and Energy unsuccessfully tried to reach an agreement with the companies. Now, the proposal is to keep the contracts in force without the obligation to purchase energy.

The government would pay for the availability of these plants —a very low amount— and would only buy energy if there was a need.

Although there is non-compliance with contracts by companies, canceling them could lead to more legal challenges by companies with increasingly heavy burdens on consumers.

The imbroglio is yet another legacy of the Jair Bolsonaro government. In the water crisis, the Ministry of Mines and Energy decided to authorize the construction of 17 thermal projects to generate energy at a high price.

None of them was ready on the date specified in the contracts. Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) canceled some and this triggered a lawsuit by the companies.

In the end, four of them built thermoelectric plants and, under the contract, the government was forced to buy the energy generated at an exorbitant price.

In the dispatches obtained by the Panel SAthe president of TCU states that 24.9 TWh (terawatt-hour) of energy were purchased, with availability of around 1,220 GW (gigawatt) of power.

The expected payment was R$ 11 billion per year, of which around R$ 9 billion would be passed on to the captive consumer, resulting in a 4.49% increase in energy tariffs.

Only the Karley 013, Karkey 019, Porsud I and Porsud II plants, belonging to the Turkish group Karpowership Brasil Energia, accounted for 25% of this expenditure, around R$ 3 billion. The group was the one that brought the most lawsuits against Aneel and the government.

At the end of 2021, the rains returned and the risk of shortages was removed, dropping the price of energy in the short-term market from R$ 583.88/MWh (megawatt-hour) to R$ 55.70/MWh.

However, the government continued to buy the most expensive energy from these companies.

KPS, for example, receives about R$ 200 million per month, even in the face of contrary decisions by Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency).

With Diego Felix

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