Brazilian power consumers still have concerns about the market's looming liberalization in January, with some saying the model will still be regulated, to a point.
Brazil's chamber of electric energy commercialization CCEE is now reaching out tothe market to address the issues. In early October it held an event to answer questions and make clear what is still pending on the liberalization of the Brazilian power market for high- and medium-voltage consumers in January. This will be the first time in which consumers of this size will be allowed to choose their electricity suppliers.
The national association for energy consumers (Anace) expressed concern with the lack of clear coordination between laws, decrees, ordinances and regulations in the sector. This leaves companies in a legally insecure situation, as they do not know which rules will prevail after migrating to the free market. This has prevented some companies from seeking bilateral power supply contracts.
Anace, energy trading firm Comerc and energy traders' association Abraceel called the transition to the new market model a mix between retail and wholesale and still somewhat regulated. Anace brought up the issue of smaller consumers needing to be represented by a retail entity within CCEE, and pointed out the option of choosing their suppliers was giving legitimacy to the liberalized model. This concern was echoed by a participant in the audience who said they represented a business with multiple locations that would have to go through a retailer despite having enough combined power demand at all of its sites combined to qualify to represent itself.
Comerc expressed worries that clients could end up with contracts in both the regulated and free markets because of the unresolved regulatory issues. This would provide a negative first experience for consumers that had never considered bilateral power supply agreements and could scare them away.
Comerc also criticized the long notice necessary for clients to migrate from regulated markets and the large quantity of information required from these consumers.
The requirement for migrating customers to also acquire new power meters — which can cost hundreds of reais each — also discourage clients from migrating, according to retail power provider Esfera Energia. A new meter should not be required since high- and medium-voltage clients already use digital meters. CCEE is also seeking public comment on this issue.
CCEE also showed propositions for improvements, such as a more streamlined model for submitting data for the transition.
