Full privatization of the electricity sector could lead to skyrocketing tariffs and the end of public services.

247 - The Ministry of Mines and Energy issued Technical Note No. 5/2017, proposing changes to the regulations governing the Brazilian electricity sector, with the stated objective of "improving the legal framework" of this sector. This "improvement," however, could lead to a radical, ultra-liberal shift in the functioning of the country's electricity system as a whole.

“The core of this new model is the concept that electricity is a commodity that can be bought and sold in a free electricity market,” says engineer Ronaldo Custódio, former technical director of Eletrosul, creator of the Rio Grande do Sul Wind Atlas, and professor in the Renewable Energy specialization course at PUC-RS. For consumers, one of the main consequences of this change could be an increase of up to six times the price paid for energy today.

The changes proposed in the Technical Note, Custódio points out, abandon the concept of electricity as a public service and good, and alter the current model, implemented by Law 10.848/2004 and structured around three pillars: universal access, affordable tariffs, and guaranteed supply. “In this model, electricity is a regulated public good, with no complete freedom of purchase and sale. A free energy market exists, but the model is predominantly regulated, with prices set by the public sector. The measures foreseen in the technical note aim to expand and consolidate the free market. It will be possible, among other things, to speculate on the price and supply of energy. This proposed new model jeopardizes the country's energy security,” warns the engineer who has worked in the electricity sector for 30 years.

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