The Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies ended, this Thursday (22), another session without voting on PL 5829, which aims to create the Legal Framework for DG (distributed generation) in Brazil. The proposal, authored by deputy Silas Câmara (Republicanos-AM) and which has deputy Lafayette Andrada (Republicanos/MG) as rapporteur, remains on the agenda and should be voted on at the beginning of next week, starting on Tuesday (27).
Initially, PL 5829 was 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 revived in December, when the majority of deputies voted for the text to be urgent, allowing the document to skip some steps within the processing process and go straight to voting in the Plenary.
In recent months, the text presented by Lafayette has motivated several debates on the subject. Canal Solar, the parliamentarian defended the approval of the document, claiming that it will help democratize the use of solar energy in the country. “Bill 5829 brings a legal framework for micro and mini distributed generation, which is the only segment of the energy sector that does not have its own legislation. It will bring predictability, legal certainty, clarity and will enable access to solar energy for the lower social classes,” he said.
The proposed text has been positively evaluated by associations and professionals in the sector. However, large economic groups, mostly formed by energy distributors, are against the project. In the understanding of the DG entities, the rejection of the text aims to protect the revenues and profits of monopolies that bill for the electricity consumed.
What happened in the session?
The Chamber of Deputies session this Thursday (22) began at 9:30 am and lasted until 14:05 pm. The parliamentarians approved two urgent requests: one that allows community radio stations to apply for a new temporary license to operate during the pandemic and another that guarantees urgency for the waiver of bidding for medicines against Covid-19.
The Chamber also approved a law that requires messages about equality to be included in advertisements for household products, with the aim of combating the stereotype that household chores are the exclusive responsibility of women. During the entire session, only two representatives spoke about the importance of the GD Legal Framework.
Charles Fernandes (PSD/BA) said that the approval of Bill 5829 would be of fundamental importance for the future of Brazilians. “This sector is very important at this time. It will greatly help our farmers and ranchers in this difficult time of pandemic that we are going through,” he commented.
Otto Alencar Filho (PSD/BA) said that during the worst water crisis, investments in renewable energy sources guaranteed jobs and investments from companies around the world in the country. “It is very important that we defend not only renewables, but also exemption for micro and small generators (…) We have to have a long-term vision, as happened in Germany. The generation of micro and small generators will provide credit and support our energy system,” he pointed out.
