Minister of Mines and Energy criticizes Aneel again and cites “disharmony” and politicization

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD)once again criticized the performance of the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), this Wednesday (2), stating that the regulatory body “politicizes a lot” and is in “complete internal disharmony”.

At a press conference in Foz do Iguaçu (PR), Silveira said that his charges to Aneel aim at the correct implementation of public policies drawn up by the government.

“You have never seen and will never see the Minister of State go into the merits of Aneel’s definitions. Even when I have doubts about so much lack of harmony between its directors and so much lack of convergence with the technical area”, he stated.

Silveira’s speech comes amid a deteriorating relationship with the regulatory body, after months of demands from the government for faster regulation of a series of sectoral policies, with the minister even speaking of “intervention” in a letter sent to the agency.

Aneel, in turn, complains about short deadlines for approving regulations in the face of a downsizing of its professional staff and budget cuts. Furthermore, in May, civil servants began a mobilization to promote their careers, which has led to greater slowdowns in some processes.

Another difficulty in moving forward with regulatory decisions arises from the vacant position on the board since the departure of Hélvio Guerra in May.

The government, responsible for appointing a new director, has not yet officially presented a name. With the chair empty and the directors presenting divergent positions, several processes end with tied votes, and others are not even scheduled for deliberation.

Among the cases of interest to the government and pending at Aneel, Silveira mentioned the transfer of control of the Amazonas energy distributor, in a process that aims to achieve an economic-financial and operational recovery of the concessionaire.

According to the minister, Aneel “is not being careful or presenting alternatives” to the transfer of share control of Amazonas Energia, which has been negotiated with Âmbar, a company belonging to the J&F holding company.

“If the transfer of control is unsuccessful and there is an intervention (in Amazonas Energia), with a consequent, possible and subsequent expiry, how much will it cost Brazil? … Aneel has not yet been able to publicly, nor to the ministry, present objective data on the decision it will take”, stated Silveira.

By court order, Aneel was forced to deliberate on the Amazonas Energia case, and the day before it decided to approve the transfer of control as long as Âmbar accepted the terms of a plan proposed by the regulator’s technical area — which ended up being denied by the company .

Another conflict between minister and agency was opened the day before, with Silveira asking Aneel to reconsider activating the most expensive tariff flag for the month of October. The minister asks for a methodological change in the flag mechanism to consider the surplus balance of the Flag Account.

Aneel said it would evaluate the change, but highlighted that the flag mechanism is “objective” and applied “without discretion” by the agency, in addition to having an educational component for consumers by encouraging energy savings.

In the case of flags, Silveira stated that the values ​​of the Conta Bandeiras, which are kept in the energy distributors’ cash register, should not be so high, and that they could be used to have less impact on the electricity bill.

“I hope Aneel directors are responsible with the responsibility they say they have and the prerogative to decide how much Brazilians and our economy pay for energy,” said Silveira.

“Aneel, in its reactive approach to the public policies that the government tries to defend, shows me that it greatly politicizes a regulatory agency that should have a technical, more objective character, speak more inwards and less outwards”, added the minister , in his response about the Conta Bandeiras.

When contacted, Aneel said it would not comment on the minister’s statements.

Cove 3

The minister also commented on the continuity of work on the Angra 3 nuclear plant, highlighting that a final decision will have to be taken later this year within the scope of the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE), an interministerial forum chaired by the Minister of Mines and Energy.

“What I will take to the CNPE is a holistic view of the decision, it is not a view just based on or based on the tariff issue,” said Silveira, citing as factors the billion-dollar costs of abandoning the work and the possibility of Brazil developing the chain nuclear with the exploration of uranium.

Silveira had previously predicted that the definition of Angra 3 could occur in September at the CNPE meeting, but now said that adjustments are still being made by BNDES in studies related to the topic.

“The BNDES is still making adjustments, or making some reflections, on the numbers set so far, and only from then on will we have confidence to take them to the CNPE.”