who can choose supplier from 2024

As of January 1, 2024, a new contingent of 106,000 high voltage consumer units will be able to freely choose who to buy energy from in the Brazilian electrical system. Currently, almost 100,000 industrial and commercial consumers are already eligible for migration to the so-called free market. However, only 30,000 have already left the captive market, also known as regulated, where supply is exclusive to the local distributor.

In the free market, instead of being an obligatory customer of the concessionaire in their region, the consumer buys energy from any generator, usually with the intermediation of a trading company.

Even though the savings on the electricity bill can vary between 15% and 30%, the consultancy Greener does not expect the migration to occur at an accelerated pace. “A general stampede of these 106 thousand consumers is not expected, not least due to lack of access to information. And also because of lack of knowledge, because of fear, since the energy market is volatile and you need to be very well advised by a trader”, says Heloísa Burin, an analyst at Greener.

Since January 1st of this year, all high voltage consumers with a minimum demand of 500 kW can migrate to the free market. For the nearly 90 million low voltage consumers, the forecast is that the market will only open in 2026 (commerce and industry) and in 2028 (residences). Until then, the continuous decrease in the base of captive market payers (which pay subsidies of R$ 36 billion from the Energy Development Account) threatens to implode the system with increasingly high tariffs, according to the warning of players in the sector People’s Gazette.

Last year, a public consultation by the Ministry of Mines and Energy raised contributions to improve the gradual and total opening of the market proposal. In Portugal, every consumer has been able to choose who to buy energy from for 15 years. In England, freedom of choice has been a reality for 25 years.