MME sanctions renewal of EDP Espírito Santo concession

In a dispatch published in the edition of the DOU (Official Gazette of the Union) this Monday (14), the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) approved the process of renewing the concession contract of the distributor EDP Espírito Santo (ES), which expires on Thursday (17).

The formal signing will take place in Vitória (ES), this coming Wednesday (16) at Palácio Anchieta, the headquarters of the Espírito Santo government. The MME measure comes following the recent release of the process by the TCU (Federal Court of Auditors), which followed the approval by ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency).

The decision marks another important step in the continuity of this EDP Brasil subsidiary's activities. The company serves 70 municipalities in Espírito Santo, has approximately 1,7 million consumer units, and was the first in its segment to be privatized, in January 1996.

The EDP Espírito Santo case is also considered a significant milestone, as it serves as a benchmark for the next 18 renewals that will still be evaluated by the TCU. According to the court's reporting judge, Minister Walton Alencar, the MME and ANEEL fulfilled the requirements set out for the extension of the concessionaire's contract.

Term

The TCU followed the unanimous recommendation of the board of directors ANEEL, of April 29, for the extension of the concession. The Agency based its recommendation on the analysis of compliance with the criteria related to the provision of the service and the company's tax, labor, and sector regularity, in addition to its legal, economic, financial, and technical qualifications.

Despite the unanimous recommendation of EDP Espírito Santo, there was intense internal debate within the ANEEL regarding the inclusion of new parameters for evaluating the service provision of distributors with expiring contracts.

Directors Fernando Mosna and Ricardo Tili even proposed expanding the analysis beyond the minimum criteria established by Decree 12.068, which defines the quality of service provision and efficiency in economic and financial management.

Both argued that the role of ANEEL should not just file or endorse the decree, but rather be proactive regarding a broader definition for the adequate provision of the service.

Calculations of ANEEL, at Tili's request, indicated that some of the country's largest distributors with contracts expiring in the coming years would not be able to meet the additional criteria initially proposed, but which were ultimately discarded after an opinion from the regulatory body's own legal department.

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