In the debate promoted by Estadão, it was assessed how to address the price distortions that exist between the free and regulated markets and allow everyone to migrate towards the free model
The possibility that all consumers can choose their supplier electricity, the negotiation of prices and conditions in the so-called “free energy market”, is a debate that will become inevitable in the country, even if, ultimately, there will be resistance from the federal government. This is the opinion of the experts who participated this Tuesday 23rd in the debate on the topic promoted by Estadao.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the price imbalance between the free market, where this trading option exists (currently limited to companies with an average expenditure of R$10,000 on energy), and the regulated market, where residential consumers and small businesses are served by distributors. The assessment of government members is that this model ends up benefiting wealthier consumers.
For the risk and strategy manager of Enel BrazilLeonardo Sant’Anna, one way to address the distortions that exist between the regulated and free markets is precisely to allow consumers to migrate towards the free market.
“The antithesis to this problem is precisely to allow and give the consumer the maximum power he has, that is, the choice to be a consumer with different suppliers, and this will bring equality in the market, it will resolve these concerns about distortions with extra costs” , has explained.
“The government is sensitive to popular opinion, every government is. So I think that regardless of a worldview that leans more one way than the other, it is a pragmatic matter to open the market, because it is already happening,” said the partner and director of Thymos EnergyAlexandre Viana, during the event.
For him, given the opening that took place already this year – when all consumers powered by high voltage were authorized to purchase electricity on the free energy market – this debate tends to strengthen.
For the Vice President of Strategy and Communication of the Brazilian Association of Energy Traders (Hug yourself), Bernardo Sicsú, the free market “is not responsible” for the distortions that exist between the price of energy in this context of contraction and the tariffs of distributors, and the debate on the expansion of this market is “inevitable”.
“Actually, when we look at the numbers, they don’t lie. Tariffs have increased a lot in recent years, well above the free energy market,” he admits. He believes, however, that this is due to the “undue” distribution, in his opinion, of the risks in this market, and underlines that the president made these statements following the reorganization planned for Amapá, in which the National Electricity Agency (Aneel) calculated an average increase in the electricity bill of 44.41%.
The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alessandro Silveira, said late last year that an interim measure would address the issue. But so far the issue has made no progress.
Source: Terra
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