Electricity and gas tariffs: the increases for higher-income families would only come in September

The increases in the electricity and gas bill which, through segmentation, will be applied to the consumption of higher-income families, they will be applied only in September. Until then, these users will keep the subsidies like the rest of the consumers. From the announcement of the “segmentation” in June, to its implementation – in September – three months will have passedaccording to official sources.

In the provinces, and also to the officials themselves, there are still many doubts about how the segmentation system will finally be designed. It is not clear how the increase will be applied (whether both the nation and each province will have to implement) or who will keep the subsidies.

All users must fill out the form to keep subsidies, regardless of whether they are affected by “segmentation” or not. The only ones who will be exempt from completing them are those who believe they will accept the loss of state contributions.

The Undersecretary for Energy Planning of the Secretary of Energy is finalizing the final format of the form to be filled in, which would be ready, they say, this week. You can access them from a special website created to upload them, and so it can be upload to the “My Argentina” app, as explained in the Casa Rosada.

The implementation of the segmentation is closely followed by the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán. The officer wants decrease energy subsidies, but without fueling inflation. The choice of September as the month of arrival of the new bills would be linked to the attempt not to hit the consumer price index for these months. It is because of the low temperatures that have been recorded for weeks, The consumption of energy for heating homes has increased a lot.

The increases will be from September, but they will apply for electricity and gas from July, which is one of the coldest months of the year and in which there is greater demand for both public services. In other words, for higher-income families, what they consume today in July and August has an uncertain value, which will only be known in September. On that date, the surcharges will be charged in 3 bimonthly installments.

“July and August would be divided proportionally in the following invoices”, They reported it in the Casa Rosada, although they did not provide more details.

The Secretary of Energy must instruct Enargas, the gas regulator, on how it should remove subsidies to the 760,000 families that are considered part of the “top decile”. That is, they register a monthly income of at least $ 350,000, or they own three cars under the age of 5 or they are people who have three properties in their own name.

In the case of electricity, the Energy must also instruct the provincial regulatory bodies on how to remove the subsidies. In this case, it would be 920,000 families. The governors still do not know how this measure will materialize in their provinces. They have asked the executive power for data, but find no answers.

The government said that average electricity consumption, which today pays $ 2,000 a month, will increase by $ 1,500. Both companies and other officials believe the increase will be greater and that $ 2,000 will go to more than $ 7,000. Perhaps this is why the government is talking about removing the bimonthly benefits, so that the increase is less abrupt.

All users -who enters the “segmentation”, but also those who are middle-class and low-income- must fill in the Government form, which is not yet ready. The middle and bottom sectors will not lose their subsidies this year, but will have to fill them out anyway to see if it matches them to continue to keep them over the next year.

“The form will be very simple”, proclaimed Gabriela Cerruti, spokeswoman for the government, questioned on this issue.

The There may be confusion about the future of segmentation on Thursday. On Wednesday, a WhatsApp message circulated among several officials. There it was stated that Santiago López Osornio, Undersecretary for Strategic Planning of the Ministry of Energy, will deliver a speech on segmentation and its scope. The meeting was scheduled for 10:30 in the morning and to participate you had to participate in a virtual meeting.

Lopez Osornio discovered that message on Wednesday afternoon / night and made it known that he had not sent it. That it was “fake news” and that it was not talked about in the program. However, the heads of the public services of the provinces also had a letter in their possession (on the letterhead of the Ministry of Energy) inviting them to participate in that virtual meeting.

In her morning press conference, the spokesperson was asked about the meeting between López Osornio and provincial officials, which was supposed to take place. “There will be more details and there they will be able to follow them”, tried to clarify Cerruti, who did not deny or confirm that meeting.