A Câmara dos Deputados concluiu nesta quinta-feira (17) a votação da Medida Provisória 998/20, que remaneja recursos no setor elétrico para permitir a redução de tarifas de energia e reorganiza o segmento nuclear para a conclusão do projeto da usina de Angra 3. A proposta segue para análise do Senado Federal.

The deputies approved the substitute for the rapporteur, deputy Léo Moraes (Pode-RO), who amended the proposal to reduce the impacts of the end of subsidies to solar, wind and biomass energy. Instead of ending in September, government aid will be extended for 12 months after the law is enacted. Moraes also allowed incentives to generate energy from renewable sources in public buildings using energy efficiency resources.

The approved text also allows concessionaires and permit holders of the public electricity distribution service to apply research and development resources in technologies for the storage of solar, wind and biomass energy.

Léo Moraes included devices to stimulate competition in power generation auctions and included more sectors that benefited from investments in energy efficiency, initially restricted to the industry.

Compensation 

On Thursday, deputies approved an amendment to guarantee compensation for plants auctioned between 2015 and 2017 that had an impact on power generation due to the drought period - the so-called hydrological risk.

The text meets the demands of Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (Cemig), according to the government leader in the Chamber, Ricardo Barros (PP-PR). Compensation will be made for the extension of the concession period.

CDE 

The provisional measure transfers to the Energy Development Account (CDE), between 2021 and 2025, 30% of the resources that electric energy concessionaires are required to invest in research and development (R&D) and energy efficiency programs. Funds for contracted or initiated projects will be preserved.

Currently, there are R$ 3.4 billion not used in R&D and energy efficiency projects, which may be directed to the CDE, in order to reduce potential tariff increases due to the effects of the pandemic. Due to the drop in energy consumption this year, the energy distributors borrowed R $ 15.3 billion to offset the loss of revenue.

North region 

The rapporteur also gave distributors in the North Region a period of five years to apply efficiency parameters in economic and financial management, without changing parameters related to the quality of the service provided. The objective is to mitigate economic effects in concessions that have encountered difficulties in meeting the parameters of the contracts due to the effects of the crisis caused by Covid-19.

Consumers in the northern states will no longer need to pay for loans provided to distributors at the time when they were under temporary control by the Union, which preceded privatization. The loans were financed by the Global Reversion Reserve (RGR), a charge charged to the electricity bill.

RGR will also finance the value of the distributors' goods not yet recognized by Aneel, preventing the cost from falling on the consumer.

The text also provides for a change in the criteria for collecting the CDE charge, which will become regional. The measure will allow consumers in Acre and Rondônia to have the same charge as other consumers in the North region (currently, they contribute as if they were in the Southeast / Midwest region).

According to Léo Moraes, MP 998 was already responsible for the average reduction of more than 11% in the energy tariffs of Rondônia, with a forecast of more or less 30% reduction for the next five years.

Angra 3 

Léo Moraes' report allows for the creation of an additional tariff to cover the costs related to the Angra 3 electricity sales contract.

The rapporteur also determines that the granting of authorization for the exploration of the nuclear plant is the exclusive competence of a state-owned company, eliminating the space for divergent interpretations. Another amendment accepted by him allows, in the case of privatization, that a new concession be granted for extended contracts.

Angra 3 is being built on Itaorna beach, in Angra dos Reis (RJ). According to government data released in July, the plant has 67.1% of the civil works already carried out.