The reform of the electricity sector consolidated by Law No. 15.269/2025 reshaped the self-production of electricity by equivalence, that is, where the consumer is equated to a self-producer of energy by holding a shareholding with voting rights in the generating company that supplies them with the energy.
In the last weeks of June, this restructuring gained two important new chapters: (i) the decision of the Board of Directors of ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency), which defined how the new rules will be implemented by CCEE (Electric Energy Trading Chamber); and (ii) the ruling of the TCU (Federal Court of Accounts), which recommended to the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) and to itself ANEEL A review regarding the exemption of certain sector-specific charges for self-employed producers classified as equivalent.
Added to this context is the emergence of new, large-scale, electron-intensive loads, such as data centers and green hydrogen plants, whose economic viability largely depends on access to self-generation arrangements for the supply of electricity.
Context: Electricity Sector Reform
Law No. 15.269/2025 inserted Article 16-B into Law No. 9.074/1995, thereby promoting the most profound change in the self-production regime by equivalence since the creation of the figure of the equivalent consumer in 2007.
Under the new law, new requirements have been established for the self-production regime by equivalence to be configured. In this sense, the consumer must have an aggregate contracted demand of at least 30.000 kW, composed of consumption units with a minimum of 3.000 kW each.
Additionally, the law also innovated by including stricter rules for participation in the share capital of the company holding the concession by the agent equated to a self-producer.
If the company has issued non-voting shares with superior economic rights (which was a widely used structure until the new law came into effect), the consumer must hold a minimum stake of 30% of the total share capital weighted by the voting shares.
At the same time, in a seemingly opposite sense, the concept of equivalent self-producer has been broadened. The framework may now include companies under common corporate control, as well as the controlling, controlled or affiliated company, directly or indirectly, of the concessionaire company, taking into account the shareholding with voting rights held by the energy consumer.
The message was clear: the aim was to limit access to self-generation structures by equivalence, reserving it, in practice, for large loads, requiring a significant participation of the equivalent self-producer in the share capital of the generating company.
It is worth noting that the bill initially approved by the National Congress included a provision restricting new arrangements to plants that were not yet operational – in other words, there seemed to be an intention to apply the benefit only to new projects.
However, this provision was ultimately vetoed during the conversion into law, but, to date, the veto has not been reviewed by the National Congress. At this time, the window for self-production structures with assets already in operation remains open.
Definition of the operationalization by ANEEL
On June 30, 2026, following a postponement of the June 16 meeting due to internal disagreement, the Board of Directors of ANEEL The agency deliberated on the application of Article 16-B of Law No. 9.074/1995, as amended by Law No. 15.269/2025. The Agency's guidelines were formalized in Dispatch No. 2.414/2026 (pending publication at the time of submission of this article).
In general, the decision of ANEEL It confirms the self-executing nature of the law, dispensing with the need for a specific regulatory resolution, but nevertheless, relevant guidelines were issued to CCEE on points considered sensitive.
Through the aforementioned Order, the Board of Directors of ANEEL It established that CCEE (Brazilian Chamber of Electric Energy Commercialization) must keep active, for up to 3 years, the self-producer models backed by power plants without authorization (low-capacity plants, up to 5 MW, holding registration in the...). ANEEL), provided that they were already implemented before the publication of the new law.
Although there is no such provision in the aforementioned legal document, the Board of Directors of ANEEL It was deemed legally appropriate to provide transitional treatment for such concretely consolidated situations, in observance of the principle of legal certainty.
For context, it is worth noting that, prior to Law No. 15.269/2025, as clarified in Opinion No. 55/2026/PFANEEL/PGF/AGU and in Legal Note No. 12/2026/PFANEEL/PGF/AGU, a ANEEL It was understood that it was possible to justify, based on a systematic interpretation of sector legislation and the fungibility admitted between the regimes of independent energy production (PIE) and self-production, that small-capacity power plants, operating through simple registration, could be modeled in the CCEE (Brazilian Chamber of Electric Energy Commercialization) as self-producers, via allocation of own generation, even though Decree No. 2.003/1996 already stipulated that the self-producer should hold a concession or authorization. However, after the publication of Law No. 15.269/2025, this hypothesis will no longer be admissible.
Regarding the new law, the Agency determined that, for the purposes of defining corporate terms, CCEE must adopt the concepts established in the Normative Resolution. ANEEL No. 948/2021, in Law No. 6.404/1976 (the Corporations Law) and in Joint Technical Note No. 7/2026-SGM-SCE-SFF/ANEEL.
CCEE will also be responsible for verifying economic groups and coalitions, examining, on a case-by-case basis, whether the official corporate documentation of the arrangements presented is clear and qualifies the consumer to be considered equivalent to a self-producer.
Furthermore, within the scope of the administrative process that gave rise to the aforementioned Dispatch, there was a question regarding the minimum individual demand of the consumption units – specifically, whether the 30.000 kW required by law could be aggregated by loads of any size, provided that one had a contracted demand equal to or greater than 3.000 kW.
The Board of ANEEL It was determined that no – in line with the letter of the law, each consumption unit must have an individual demand equal to or greater than 3.000 kW.
As next steps, CCEE may adjust the Trading Procedures and Rules to operationalize the new provisions of the Law.
The TCU (Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts) broadens the scope of the discussion.
A few days before the decision of ANEELOn June 24, 2026, the TCU Plenary issued Ruling 1631/2026, following an operational audit dedicated specifically to evaluating the self-production policy.
The audit found that this type of energy production has grown significantly in recent years and that the charges for ESS (System Services Charge) and EER (Reserve Energy Charge) not fully collected by self-producers represent costs in the billions that are redistributed to other consumers.
According to the TCU (Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts), self-producers benefit from the stability of the electrical system without contributing proportionally to the costs that sustain it, and the self-production policy lacks formalized objectives and monitoring mechanisms.
The TCU's recommendations go beyond what the law and the ANEEL They have already dealt with this. The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) was recommended to evaluate the possibility of changing the calculation basis for the ESS (Energy Settlement System) of an electrical nature, replacing net consumption with measured consumption, a change that, if implemented, would increase the financial participation of self-producers in covering systemic charges.
It was also recommended that the Ministry formalize a strategy for the self-production policy, with explicit objectives, goals and performance indicators, and that it establish a mechanism for the permanent monitoring of new waves of migration to self-production structures.
À ANEELThe TCU (Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts) recommended that the Agency conduct studies regarding the possible maintenance or alteration of the current criteria for calculating the tax base for ESS (Social Security Contribution) and EER (Energy Efficiency Rate).
New energy-intensive loads and the incentive dilemma.
The decisions of the ANEEL The opinions of the TCU (Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts) must be contextualized within a strategic moment, in which Brazil is competing for global investments in digital infrastructure and low-carbon hydrogen. data centers Both green hydrogen (H2V) plants have in common an economic equation that is extremely sensitive to energy costs, which can represent more than half of the operating cost in the first case and is the dominant input in the levelized cost of H2V.
For these projects, self-production structures are not a regulatory detail, but are often what determines the final investment decision (FID).
In this context, dissent is natural, considering that these entities will seek self-production structures, essentially due to the non-contribution of these projects to certain systemic costs.
It is worth noting that Law No. 15.269/2025 did not alter the calculation basis for ESS and ERR for self-producers, nor did it introduce any limitations for other self-production structures, such as self-production via consortium through leasing.
It is legitimate to review sectoral subsidies; however, any new rules and limitations on the benefits of self-production must be defined in accordance with the principles of legality and legal certainty, respecting the legally binding act and contracts already entered into.
The slow pace in defining new rules and this regulatory uncertainty negatively impact investments in expanding both generation and demand, at a time when increased demand for electricity would allow for a resumption of investments in renewable generation and reduce the... curtailment (generation cuts) due to energy reasons (lack of demand).
The opinions and information expressed are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the author. Canal Solar.
