Increase in tariffs: the government will give Edenor and Edesur an extra advantage

The Government analyzes a different increase in electricity tariffs for the city of Buenos Aires and the suburbs compared to the rest of the country. Distributor customers across the country will pay -at least- 20% more on your tickets, as reported by the Secretary of Energy. But the customers of the electricity service of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) they provide Edenor and Edesur it would face a further increaseaccording to government studies.

The “additional” correction in Buenos Aires would concern the boxes of the two distributors. The companies they charge a percentage of the fee for their service. Is called “Distributive added value”. Edenor and Edesur have fallen behind from 2019 when it comes to interiors. While across the country the margin for distributors has increased at the rate of inflationin Buenos Aires the increases were negligible. In the government they analyze allowing Edenor and Edesur to do so slightly increase the margin for the service they provide. The percentage is not yet defined and the decision is still subject to debate in the Secretariat for Energy.

Customers in Buenos Aires and the suburbs are the ones who spend the least on bills to pay for the services of distributors. In an AMBA vote, about 28% of the total amount paid goes to Edenor and Edesur. More than 50% of what a family pays in Buenos Aires goes to the cost of electricity itself. The rest corresponds to the taxes.

The government is overdue with information regarding the removal of electricity subsidies. He clarified that this discount will be lost by commercial customers, by consortia (with counterpoints between Energy and Economy in this regard) and then by neighborhood clubs.

In Buenos Aires, an Edesur customer who consumes 300 kWh per month (a measure slightly above the average of that distributor’s customers) will go from $ 1,467 per month to $ 2,285 over the same period.

Increases up to 200%

The government will continue to subsidize a block of up to 400 kWh. Beyond that, consumption will no longer be subsidized. Private estimates speak of a 200% correction. for families who consume more than 400kWh and have not applied for the subsidy, or are in the higher income bracket.

Cammesa, the wholesale operator of the electrical system, charges the same price for electricity to all distributors. The differences between the provinces – some charge up to three times more than Buenos Aires – correspond to the “margin” that each company puts at your service.

The distribution of electricity is regulated by the provinces. Except in the case of the CABA and the suburbs, where the regulatory body is ENRE, which depends on the national state.

The monomic cost, a value that is taken as a reference by distributors, exceeds $ 13,000. Cammesa had charged distributors just over $ 3,000 for this concept and will now bill them close to $ 5,400.

This cost increase will be passed on to customer invoices. Almost across the country, households will pay 20% more for the electricity they consume, at least those withholding part of the subsidies.

Indoor electricity bills triple the values ​​in Buenos Aires. It is because provincial distributors capture more than half of what is paid in their bill for their margins.

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Distributors in Neuquén, Entre Ríos, Córdoba and Santa Fe, for example, charge much higher values ​​for their service (called “distribution added value”) than those in Buenos Aires.

The national tariff dispersion is such that, for the same consumption, you can pay $ 5,700 in Tucumán and $ 1,800 in Buenos Aires and the suburbs, according to a work by experts Luciano Caratori and Mauricio Roitman. The wholesale cost, which the government will stop subsidizing in stages, represents between 17% and 26% of tickets in provinces such as Tucumán, Neuquén, Córdoba and Entre Ríos. Instead, it is more than 50% in Buenos Aires.

In Neuquén, 58% of the amount paid on the ticket is in cash from the provincial energy distributor. In Cordoba (an average invoice is $ 4,900), more than half goes to EPC, the distributor. In Salta the machine keeps 51% of the ticket. In Tucumán, 49%. In Santa Fe, 48%.

Buenos Aires was far behind. For this reason the Government is studying the enabling of greater margins for Edenor and Edesur. Both companies also owe $ 200 billion to Cammesa.. It is for the electricity they deliver to their customers, but which they cannot pay, because what they collect in their bills is not enough to cover that cost, as they explain. The additional recomposition for Edenor and Edesur also has its political interpretations. José Luis Manzano and Daniel Vila, owners of Edenor, witnessed Sergio Massa’s swearing-in as Minister of Economy. Vila, a shareholder of América TV, confesses that he is a personal friend of Tigren’s politician. On the other hand, Edesur was heavily attacked by Kirchnerism, which even fantasized about taking away the concession.

“Internal distributors have a relationship of 50% for the distributor and 50% for the cost of generation and taxes.”, Explains an official source, who asks not to be identified. “In Buenos Aires, however, that ratio is 70% for generation and taxes and 30% for distributors, which is unfair with what’s going on inside. We are trying to match it, ”says an official who is not yet authorized to raise this issue in public.

The change in the Secretariat for Energy has also generated that some “key” positions are undefined. To increase Edesur and Edenor’s margins, the approval of the regulator, Enre, is required. Soledad Manín is the owner there. But the officer Reply to Federico Basualdo, the outgoing Undersecretary for Electricity. For this reason, the will of him would be Leave. But the government still doesn’t have a replacement for that strategic post.

In Cammesa, wholesale administrator of the electrical system, changes are also planned. Energy Secretary Flavia Royón has been appointed as the highest authority. But it remains to be seen what will happen to the “key” departments where the cost of the system is managed, ie the increase for distributors.