the opening of Free Energy Market for all consumers could bring a reduction of up to 10% in the value of the electricity bill for low income population, today made up of around five million families registered with CadÚnico or served by the BCP (Continuous Payment Benefit).
The data is part of study “Electricity bill portability: social impact and role in the fair energy transition”, prepared and published by hug (Brazilian Association of Energy Traders).
Currently, low-income Brazilian consumers already have discounts of up to 65% on their electricity bills through government subsidies. However, if they also have the right to choose their energy supplier, they will be able to obtain additional discounts ranging between 7,5% and 10%.
“We identified that migration to the free electricity market is also viable for low-income consumers, especially those with higher consumption, generally with larger families and a cost of living that is greatly impacted by the increasing value of the energy bill”, he explained. the executive president of Abraceel, Rodrigo Ferreira.
Expansion of Mercado Livre
Currently, the Free Energy Market is restricted to just 0,03% of Brazilian consumers, since only customers with demand equal to or greater than 500 kW can participate in this market.
However, in September last year, the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) expanded the opening of the ACL (Free Contracting Environment) through the publication of the Ordinance 50/2022.
From January 1, 2024, the measure will allow any consumer connected to high voltage (A) to migrate to Mercado Livre and, with this, it will be possible to purchase energy from any supplier. This group is made up of 106 thousand consumers, with average monthly bills above R$10 thousand.
As for the other Brazilian low voltage customers (Group B), what exists at this moment is a signal from the Ministry for the opening of the Free Energy Market for commercial consumers to take place in 2026, while the opening for all consumers should take place only in 2028.
