With the deadline for submitting contributions to public consultation 46/2025 of ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) ending next Monday, March 9th, the debate on the possible mandatory adoption of the white tariff for consumers with bills equal to or greater than 1.000 kWh has gained prominence.
Yesterday afternoon, March 3rd, the Papo Solar podcast, from Canal Solar, brought together experts to discuss the regulatory body's preparations and the potential repercussions of this initiative.
Under the mediation of Ericka Araújo, editor-in-chief of the portal, and Bruno Kikumoto, managing partner of Canal The Solar debate featured Donato Filho, CEO and founder of Volt Robotics, and professor and consultant José Wanderley Marangon.
The consensus among the debaters is that, while the measure may bring systemic efficiency and new business opportunities, it still carries significant uncertainties about its impact on distributed generation (micro and mini-generation), depending strictly on the transition rules and price signal that will be proposed.
communication failure
One of the first points raised in the conversation with Donato and Marangon was the historically very low adoption rate of the white tariff since its creation in 2018. Currently, only 70 consumers—less than 0,1% of the eligible population—have adopted the model.
To MaragonThe central problem was the regulatory body's lack of interest in informing the public. "The communication from..." ANEEL "It was very bad. In all these years that the system has existed, people don't even know what the white tariff is," the professor stated.
Donato Filho complemented the criticism by focusing on the name itself. "The name is bad." White fare"It communicates very little," the CEO pointed out, suggesting that the term adopted in pilot projects like Copel's, "Tarifa Hora Certa" (Right-Time Tariff), is much more intuitive for the average citizen.
According to him, the current price signal is designed to discourage consumption at the end-of-day peak, but without a clear explanation, the consumer does not understand the benefit of shifting their load.
Social learning
The proposal of ANEEL Making the tariff mandatory initially for those consuming more than 1.000 kWh per month was seen as a sound strategic move.
Donato argued that this consumption bracket represents customers with greater "room for maneuver" and technological infrastructure. "Those who consume 1.000 kWh per month have a lot of equipment. It's a great start because it generates learning," he explained.
He sees this initial phase as a true regulatory sandbox, where the sector can observe the real behavior of the target audience before expanding the mandatory requirement to smaller ranges, such as 600 kWh, planned for 2027.
Marangon, however, warned that changing habits is not trivial. "Consumers won't be able to understand this tariff on their own. They'll get angry if their bill skyrockets at the end of the month because they haven't reduced their consumption," he pointed out.
Both agreed that an unprecedented communication and marketing effort will be necessary to ensure that the target audience perceives the measure not as a punishment, but as a cost-saving tool.
Global experience
The debate brought up international examples to illustrate what Brazil can expect. Marangon cited that countries with thermal power systems, such as England, have been operating with hourly tariffs for decades to deal with variable generation costs.
In Texas, he recalled, the tariff can vary every five minutes, allowing batteries to kick in to flatten prices during periods of heat stress. For this reality to reach Brazil, technology is considered the immediate bottleneck.
Donato pointed out that most residential meters today are "dumb," only adding up the accumulated consumption for the month.
Although the existing white tariff meter can separate three tariff periods, Marangon advocated for a direct technological leap to smart meters. "The smart meter, being the interface between the house and the grid, is an important point. It can have the intelligence to manage consumption without disrupting the customer's life," he emphasized.
Business opportunities and state policies
The implementation of mandatory time-of-use pricing should give rise to a new category of companies, according to the panelists at Papo Solar, namely residential energy aggregators or managers.
Marangon sees a market for companies that install monitoring and control devices to automate customer consumption. "Computers solve the problem. Companies abroad already master air conditioning systems and alter consumption profiles without disturbing comfort," commented the consultant.
Donato Filho emphasized that the emergence of these technologies depends on state policies that transcend the electricity sector.
“There’s no point in trying to implement smart pricing and then overtaxing smart equipment. Taxing batteries or meters goes against the objective. This should be a state policy,” he argued, reinforcing that the supply of control devices should be encouraged so that the response to demand is effective.
MMGD and Law 14.300
The most sensitive point of the podcast was the debate surrounding the impact on customers who already have solar energy.
Since distributed generation (DG) in Brazil is governed by a volumetric compensation of credits (kilowatt for kilowatt), the introduction of tariff caps tends to create a possible direct conflict with Law 14.300.
“MMGD is a volumetric compensation. The problem is that, when the tariff ceases to be volumetric and starts to have tariff periods, a kilowatt generated at noon may not be worth the same as a kilowatt consumed at 19 pm,” warned Marangon.
Donato proposed a "win-win" approach to prevent the white tariff from destroying the profitability of solar energy. He suggested that consumers with MMGD (Minimum Guaranteed Generation) adopt batteries to inject energy precisely during peak hours, when it is most expensive.
“If you inject energy at the point of consumption, it becomes more valuable. We did the calculations and it turned out very well. You help the system by reducing consumption at the point of consumption and earn more credits for it,” he reported, citing studies by Volt Robotics.
Marangon emphasized, however, that regulation still needs to evolve to ensure that this differentiated valuation does not infringe on the acquired rights of GD1 users (long-standing customers). "We have to try to find a way to avoid violating what has already been established by Law 14.300," he stated.
He warned that if the ANEEL If MMGD is not cautious, it could forcibly shift from a net metering system to a net billing system, which would create legal uncertainty.
Transparency
At the end of the episode, the panelists reinforced that the white tariff is a necessary path for the modernization of the sector, but that it requires transparency.
Bruno Kikumoto pointed out that professional education will be vital: "It's not just about installing solar panels; the installer needs to know how to talk to the client about batteries and schedules so that the investment pays for itself."
Ericka Araújo concluded the podcast by reminding viewers that the final decision of ANEEL This will only happen after the analysis of the contributions, which close on Monday.
Until then, the solar energy sector and large low-voltage consumers remain vigilant, hoping that the price signal will be accompanied by instruments that allow consumers to truly be active agents in managing their own energy.
Watch the full episode
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