RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Ministry of Mines and Energy decree, published on Friday, August 9th, provides that studies on regulatory measures required to enable the opening of access to the free market for consumers with contracted loads below 500 kW should be carried out as of January 1st, 2024.
The free electricity market, in which high-demand consumers such as industries may negotiate energy contracts directly with electricity producers and distributors, requires a load of more than 0.5 MW to subscribe, although the government has been discussing the gradual reduction of this threshold, amid plans for a reform in the sector’s regulation.
Currently, companies with contracted loads between 0.5 MW and 2.5 MW are authorized to operate in the free market as “special consumers”, requiring the purchase of energy from renewable resources, but this threshold is to be gradually changed, according to the government’s proposal.
The government has additionally opened a fifteen-day consultation to refine the proposal.
According to the same decree, as of January 1st, 2021, consumers with a contracted load equivalent or higher than 1,500 kW, at any voltage, may choose to purchase electric power from any utility, licensee, or power contractor in the National Interconnected System.
As of July 1st, 2021, consumers with a contracted load equivalent or higher than 1,000 kW will also benefit from the same option, as well as consumers with a contracted load equal or higher than 500 kW as of January 1st, 2022.