GD Legal Framework: what will the vote on PL 5829 be like?

O Canal Solar held the webinar “GD Legal Framework: How it will be processed in the Legislature" with the participation of federal deputy Lafayette de Andrada (Republicans/MG), rapporteur of PL 5828/19 (Bill No. 5829/2019). The event aimed to clarify the main doubts of professionals working in the GD (distributed generation) sector regarding the project.

During the interview, Lafayette commented that the replacement text of the proposal should be on the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies next Thursday (25). The parliamentarian also explained in detail how the PL will be processed in the Legislature until its eventual approval.

“The common bill, depending on the theme, is first considered by a permanent committee linked to that project. If it is about education, for example, it will be debated in the education committee. As ours has to do with energy, it was widely debated in the Mines and Energy Commission,” he explained.

Lafayette commented that the proposal was initially scheduled to be voted on at the beginning of last year, but ended up being postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The topic was only revisited in December, when the Chamber voted for the urgency of the text, allowing the document to skip some steps within the processing process and go straight to voting in the Plenary.

“What will be voted on [next week] is the replacement that I presented. It will no longer be Congressman Silas Câmara’s original project,” said Lafayette.

The parliamentarian also highlighted that if the project is approved, it will go to the Senate. There, instead of going to the Mines and Energy Commission, it will be forwarded to the Infrastructure Commission, then passing through the Justice Constitution Commission, before going to the vote. If approved by the senators, the project is released for approval by President Jair Bolsonaro.

Asked during the interview about how long this could take, Lafayette said that the delay depends on some factors, such as the worsening of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It will also depend a lot on the pace that the president of the Senate (Rodrigo Pacheco) will impose. He has the ability to speed up or slow down the process (…) I believe that this will not stay in the Senate for long. I think a reasonable time would be about three months. In other words, if it is approved in the Chamber, I estimate that by the middle of the year this project will already be duly voted on and approved”, he projected.

parliamentary amendments

During the interview, one of the doubts raised was regarding the amendments that the other parliamentarians will be able to prepare. Lafayette explained that all parties can present their considerations until voting day and that, to date, more than ten amendments have already been prepared.

“The rapporteur [of the Chamber's Mines and Energy Committee and then of Infrastructure in the Senate] studies all these amendments and can incorporate the ones he wants or not into the text. The parliamentarian who does not have his amendment incorporated can request it to be highlighted and it will be voted on separately. If it is approved, it will be incorporated into the text,” he said.

According to Lafayette, if the document that is approved in the Chamber is not the same as the one in the Senate, the project returns to the Chamber of Deputies so that the House's parliamentarians can approve any changes made by the senators or maintain the original document approved by them. “The Chamber will have the last word”, he stressed.

What does the replacement for PL 5829 propose?

The substitute presented by deputy Lafayette de Andrada proposes the gradual payment, by consumers with distributed generation, for the use of electrical infrastructure, through the so-called TUSD wire B (Distribution System Usage Tariff) from distributors and concessionaires.

Additionally, it establishes a ten-year transition period for changing the regime in relation to the current model, in line with the guidelines of the CNPE (National Energy Policy Council). The changes would come into effect 12 months after the publication of the Law and guarantee the maintenance of the current rules for pioneer consumers.

Generation systems close to the load (roofs and facades of buildings), shared generation (plants that produce electricity credits for consumers), EMUC (condominiums), self-consumption up to 200 kW and dispatchable renewable sources will have a gradual payment schedule for TUSD Fio B that increases from 0% in 2022 to 100% in 2033.