A ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) decided this week to apply fines to two distributors in Rio Grande do Sul: CEEE Equatorial and RGE Sul.
The sanctions – initially applied by AGERGS (State Agency for the Regulation of Delegated Public Services of Rio Grande do Sul) – were reviewed by ANEEL at the request of the distributors, who contested the decision.
In the case of the Equatorial CEEE, the ANEEL upheld AGERGS's decision to fine the company R$24,3 million. As for RGE, the Agency reconsidered the previous decision and reduced the fine from R$40,9 million to R$21,7 million, converting part of the sanction into a warning.
The fine on CEEE Equatorial was applied in 2024 after an inspection found non-compliance, in 2022, with the regulatory limits for interruption of electricity service in 48 of the 62 regions served by the company.
More than 1,4 million families in the distributor's concession area experienced more power outages than considered acceptable by the ANEEL that year. The company's concession area covers 72 cities in Rio Grande do Sul, including the capital Porto Alegre.
RGE was inspected in 2022, when an undue charge was found by the concessionaire for high voltage consumers. A ANEEL had determined that consumers should be billed once a month, starting in January 2021.
RGE's preparation to meet this requirement resulted in the issuance of two invoices to 5.656 consumers in December 2020, charging for power demand twice in the same month.
The amounts overcharged by RGE, around R$21 million, should have been returned in double to consumers by the second billing cycle after the undue charge was confirmed, which did not happen: RGE made the simple refund five months after the regulatory deadline.
A ANEEL converted part of the sanction applied by AGERGS into a warning, referring to discrepancies in information provided by RGE to eight consumer units during the inspection process, thus reducing the fine from R$40,9 million to R$21,7 million.
The Agency also established a deadline of 60 days for the distributor to return double the amounts incorrectly invoiced in 2020.
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