Thursday, January 28, 2016

Electricity rates: how they are now and how they might be – Ambito.com

     Business
    
    
    Wednesday January 27, 2016

    
         
    



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By Liliana Franco
 

Between Friday and Monday at the latest Energy Minister Juan Jose Aranguren, announce the new electricity tariffs will come into effect for consumers from February. The first stage of the adjustment was the publication of the Resolution 6/2016 in the Official Gazette, which includes hikes in wholesale electricity prices that will have a direct impact on electricity bill users across the country in the next month. The rule establishes the new scheme “Final Quarterly Rescheduling” which covers the months of February to April 2016 increases more than 350% for energy generation . It remains set increases in distribution, with the consequent impact on the bills received by users. These ads and tariff scheme is to be known in the coming days.

According to distributors, there is still the ENRE (the agency responsible for developing the tariff charts) completed the creation of new values. It should be noted that in principle there will be different rates: full consumption customers (ie they do not save); who save between 10 and 20%, saving more than 20%, beneficiaries of social tariffs and for large companies.

The resolution states that there will be a free social tariff for users who demand less than 150 kilowatts per month. Among the people covered by the social tariff are the beneficiaries of the universal child allowance (AUH); retired (subtraction define who were excepted) and electrodependientes, among others. “In principle the number of beneficiaries covered by the social rate would double,” said an official source.

The new box for residential customers who register savings compared to 2015 will be: at the price peak hours clinches $ 251.39 per megawatt hour; in the remaining hours $ 247.09 per megawatt hour; and valley hours $ 242.26 per megawatt hour.

Meanwhile, for residential users who have reduced their monthly consumption by over 20% compared with the same month last year, prices Reference will be: in peak hours $ 201.39 per megawatt hour; in hours remaining $ 197.09 per megawatt hour; and valley hours $ 192.26 per megawatt hour.

Meanwhile, for the monthly consumption over 150 KW per month and provided that the total monthly consumption is less than or equal to that recorded in the same month 2015, the reference prices of energy will be: in peak hours $ 31.39 per megawatt hour; in hours remaining $ 27.09 per megawatt hour; and valley hours $ 22.26 per megawatt hour.

For the monthly consumption over 150 KW per month and up to 300 kilowatts per month, and if the total monthly consumption is higher than in the same month of 2015, the reference prices of energy will be: in peak hours $ 321.39 per megawatt hour; in hours remaining $ 317.09 per megawatt hour; and valley hours $ 312.26 per megawatt hour.

In the metropolitan area, more than 2 million customers pay one peso per day , that is 60 pesos per quarter, according to official sources said. Thus, aim, in Greater Buenos Aires you will get to pay for electricity seven times less than in some inland provinces.

In the City of Buenos Aires, Edenor charges $ 54.70 (excluding taxes) and Edesur $ 55.10 per 500 kWh, well below the price of other provinces. In Cordoba on the other hand, is the highest-paying province alike bimonthly consumption: $ 373.Precisamente the intention of the authorities is to equating Conurbano tariffs with the rest of the country.

The advantage, they argue, is to be part of such low levels that although the percentage increases are important, as the absolute values ​​could be faced by consumers. They cite as an example that “a 300% increase in pay today for 1 peso per day take the bimonthly rate to 240 pesos, the value of two pizzas”.

The total subsidies increased from 1.4% of GDP in 2006 to 5% last year, according to the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth, and the majority – 70 % – they were earmarked for energy. The paper also points out that compensation to households benefited more middle- and upper than the lower income sectors revenue.

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For its part, the Faithful Foundation released a press release in which he analyzes with criticisms the new measure. He argues that in a first analysis of the reading of the resolution, “we believe that the Stimulus Plan is, despite good intentions to encourage energy savings, a design error that leads to excessive tariff differentiation of dubious effectiveness relative their objectives (the contingency of temperature shocks) and adds an unnecessary opacity prices actually paid by system users. ”

In this regard, the faithful understand that “there is no evidence well supported empirically, at home or abroad, to endorse the adoption of this program and the feeling is that the new administration extended to the Prices of electricity the design error implemented by the previous administration in the natural gas sector “.

As for the Social Tariff program, the foundation argues that” it is a breakthrough regarding the practices of the previous administration in various dimensions ranging from objectives, database management and enforcement authority and control, but doubts remain about its design, effectiveness and distributional impact. ”

The results indicate that Resolution 6/2016, according to FIEL, will have a significant impact on subsidies of around 3.4 billion in current dollars or, equivalently, a value close to 0.7% of GDP. This is a lower limit if other changes in the resolution, such as greater compliance with CAMMESA arrears by market players, can be carried out quickly. “But the net effect of Resolution – warning – once you consider the devaluation of December 2015 (which increased subsidies 400 million) and the possible increase in the price of gas paid by the electricity sector (which adds another $ 1100) is reduced to the environment of the 2,000 million or 0.4% of GDP. ”

For these reasons FIEL concludes that “the orders of magnitude of the reductions in subsidies simulated in this exercise confirm the gradualist approach to the elimination of subsidies adopted by the new administration “

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