Beginning in June, The Government will apply “segmentation” to electricity and gas subsidies. Households with higher purchasing power will receive fewer subsidies and pay a higher price for the electricity and gas they consume. Electric Power undersecretary, Federico Basualdo, outlined a scenario to carry out this process in the summer.

However, from the Ministry of Economy they informed that they do not agree with the way Energy is dealing with the problem. The remarkable thing has appeared in the last hours.

Andrés López Osornio, Undersecretary of Energy Planning at Bishop of Martín Guzmán on Energysuggested a segmentation with parameters very similar to those outlined by Basuldo.

The method chosen by Basuado and Enre (the electricity regulator) is georeferencing. It established high-consumption zones for 500,000 households, deployed in 13 neighborhoods (11 in the city of Buenos Aires, two in the northern suburbs and 466 countries) where increases of up to 200% or more. Clarín promoted it exclusively.

Those close to Guzmán complained, privately, about the work of Basuldo and Enre. That is why a report prepared by López Osornio, a trusted man of Guzmán and predicting subsequent public hearings, is surprising.

“To include the distributive dimension, it is possible to seek to define the ability to pay users around certain‘ clusters ’or geographical areas from which homogeneous ability to pay can be inferred and, in this way, define them as target population. of a certain segment ”, says a work by López Osornio on subsidies.

“Polygons can be formed using nuclei with high repayment capacity and low repayment capacity that form segments with the lowest and highest levels of subsidies, respectively,” López Osornio’s document says.

Basualdo and Enre – the intervener Soledad Manín referred to in Basualdo – drew the maps for the segmentation application. They understood that this was the lowest risk standard, as reducing consumption subsidies could affect low -income households.

From Guzmán’s environment they stoned that proposal, which they now seem to be accepting. “Geographical-spatial variables also certainly constitute a socioeconomic dimension, but it differs from other criteria if its analysis results in a particular polygon for which a level of subsidy is assigned,” said the undersecretary of Energy Planning.

Defining Enrethis review praises georeferencing because “it has the virtue of being able to indirectly acquire the ability to pay, so it can be a useful tool to address the problems of informal income and declared wealth,” he observes.

The biggest drawback of segmentation, he warns, is in smaller towns or rural settings. “The price per square meter and the size of the property are now not systematically available nationwide,” highlights the Undersecretary of Strategic Planning.

Within the Kirchnerist sectors, they celebrated López Osornio’s report. “They wanted Basualdo to leave and they went ahead with what Basuldo suggested,” they joked.

Geographic segmentation also has its chiaroscuro. A client who consumes little (about 500 KWh) will pay approximately $ 1,400 for his bimonthly electricity bill if he lives in Chacarita. But if you cross the sidewalk and enter Palermo, the charge for the same consumption is between $ 2,500 and $ 2,800.

The difference is that the Chacarita home will continue to have approximately a 70% subsidy on the cost of electricity generation. But Palermo will lose the benefit. That’s because Palermo has homes whose average real estate valuation is higher than Chacarita. Although there are also apartments and houses in that town that are much more expensive than its neighboring towns.

People with a social rate will remain on this benefit regardless of where they live. And those living in “rich” neighborhoods will also be able to continue this subsidy if they fill out a form where they can justify that they don’t have the money to deal with the increase.

In López Osornio’s work, a form has already been provided for people who say they cannot afford the increases, despite living in areas with high purchasing power.

It is not clear what will happen to the “segmentation” in gas rates. In the city of Buenos Aires and suburbs, the same standard can be used as in light. But it has not yet been determined what will happen inside.