Bill 414/2022 will be voted on by the Chamber of Deputies only after the presidential elections in October. The proposal aims to expand access to the ACL (Free Contracting Environment) – known as the Free Energy Market – for all consumers with a load of less than 500 kW.
The decision was announced by the Speaker of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP/AL), after the Plenary rejected part of the Provisional Measure 1118 / 22, authored by the Executive Branch and reported by deputy Danilo Forte (União/CE), which allowed medium-sized consumers to buy electricity from any distributor.
The section added by deputy Danilo Forte to the text of MP 1118/22 – which dealt with tax benefits for companies that purchase fuel at gas stations – authorized consumers with energy consumption exceeding 500 kW to purchase electricity from any concessionaire.
Today, these consumers, considered special, can only contract with suppliers that produce energy from sources that receive incentives, such as solar, wind, small hydroelectric plants or generation from biomass. This freedom, to contract the supply of energy from any source, is only allowed to consumers with demand from 1000 kW.
The excerpt presented by the rapporteur of MP 1118/22 was removed following the request of deputy Lafayette de Andrada (Republicanos/MG), who argued that, in practice, the excerpt freed these consumers to enter the Free Energy Market, a matter that already is being discussed in PL 414.
Congressman Thiago Metro (Novo/MG) even classified the section added by Congressman Danilo Forte in MP 1118/22, during his speech at the podium, as a jabuti. “In our opinion, it is yet another jabuti. This provisional measure, to be very clear, deals with PIS/Cofins tax credits on fuels”, he highlighted.
Although defeated by the Plenary, with the decision to remove the section suggesting opening the market, deputy Danilo Forte celebrated the announcement that PL 414 will be put to a vote.
“This was the measure that most democratized access because today large consumers are already within the free market. The rich are already part of the free market. Now the butcher, the bodegueiro, the condominium on the outskirts, the one that was going to come in with exactly this measure. And all life is postponed. This house has been discussing the free market for two years and has been unable to vote 414,” he declared.
