Aneel Approves Average 12% Increase in Electricity Bills in São Paulo

The Electricity Bill Will Become Even More Expensive For Consumers In Several Municipalities In The State Of São Paulo. An AAE Approved An Average Increase Of 12%

With the new electricity bill adjustment announced by the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) on Tuesday, the 28th, the average price of the electricity bill will have a 12% increase for several municipalities in the state of São Paulo. The new rates will come into effect on July 4 in the 24 municipalities that are part of Enel Distribuição São Paulo. These 24 municipalities serve about 7.6 million consumer units.

According to the National Electric Energy Agency, the average increase for consumers in these municipalities in the state of São Paulo will be 12.04%, 18.03% for high voltage, and 10.15% for low voltage. The company highlights that the majority of low voltage customers are households, while medium and high voltage customers are mostly industries and large commercial establishments.

Enel justified the average 12% increase in the electricity bill for consumers due to rising inflation. In addition to the economic situation, sectorial charges, such as the Energy Development Account (CDE), and the high costs of purchasing energy during the drought crisis also contributed to the increase in the electricity bill.

New Law Prevented The Average Increase From Being Even Higher 

The company emphasizes that the average increase would have been even greater, reaching 27.64%, if the federal government and the company had not made an effort to reduce the value of the increase to consumers.

The main factor was the presidential sanction of Law 14.385, which returns the PIS/Cofins charged on the electricity bill. The sanction of the Law was essential to prevent the increase from being greater. 

“We emphasize that ANEEL has been carrying out this procedure since 2020. For the distributors that have already gone through tariff processes in 2022, ANEEL will approve an extraordinary tariff review, under the terms of the said law. For distributors that will still have their processes in the coming months, the adjustment will be made in the ordinary tariff processes according to the schedule published on the agency’s website,” ANEEL said in a statement. 

The Brazilian pocket will be impacted again in the event of a new drought crisis. Last week, ANEEL announced a new adjustment to the tariff flags. They operate to compensate for an increase in the cost of energy production. The price increase for each flag ranges from 3.2% to 63.7%.