TCU gives deadline for ANEEL present action plan for review of 482

A ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) has 90 days to present an action plan to resolve the SCEE (electric energy compensation system) contained in the agency's REN 482 (Normative Resolution No. 482/2012). The deadline established by the TCU (Federal Court of Auditors) began counting from the date of publication, on November 18.

In the publication, Benjamamin Zymler, TCU minister and reviewer of the document, highlights that the stipulated deadline is for the presentation of an action plan and not exactly for the end of the process.

“I agree with the considerations brought up in the rapporteur’s vote (Minister Ana Arraes), but I thought it appropriate that the TCU, instead of ordering the regulatory agency to take steps to remove the tariff differentiation provided for in Resolution 482/2012 within ninety days, request, within that period, that the ANEEL present an action plan containing the actions to be taken, those responsible for the actions and the implementation and transition deadlines. This is because the regulatory change requires public consultations, internal debates, incorporation of suggestions from society, among other procedures”.

Zymler also emphasized the need to provide transition deadlines, providing consumers who have joined DG (distributed generation) with the necessary legal certainty in relation to the investments they have already made.

Furthermore, Vital do Rêgo, minister of the TCU and also a reviewer, recommended that the Ministry of Mines and Energy create public policies to replace the electricity compensation system, currently provided for in REN 482, which should be submitted for evaluation by the National Congress .

The publication was received with surprise by the sector, not exactly because of the deadline established for the presentation of the REN 482 update plan by ANEEL, but mainly because the document contains several narratives that there is cross-subsidy in GD.

“The analyses carried out by the TCU did not take into account the contributions of the sector, the benefits of distributed generation and the efforts that have been made by various agents to arrive at a regulatory review that in fact maintains the viability of DG, recognizes its positive attributes and is good for society in general”, stated lawyer Bárbara Rubim, vice president of Distributed Generation at ABSOLAR (Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy) on video.

After the TCU decision ABSOLAR established a crisis committee that is working with experts to analyze the TCU's decision in detail and to prepare the appropriate administrative and judicial measures in defense of distributed generation.

Carlos Evangelista, president of ABGD (Brazilian Association of Distributed Generation), highlights the willingness to maintain acquired rights. “This measure is in line with everything that is happening. ABGD is holding weekly meetings, every Friday, with the ANEEL to address this issue. The difference is that now all parties are being heard. The rapporteur of the process, Efrain Cruz, is listening to all parties and is trying to reach a consensus. It was not in the 'down the throat' way, as in the text presented in October of last year. It is something more reasoned with a reasonable transition, with a tariff of around 10% to 15%.”

The TCU's determination is the result of a representation made by the deputy attorney general of the Public Ministry to the body regarding alleged violations of legal principles practiced by ANEEL within the scope of Public Consultation 25/2019.