The event was attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira
The government brought forward the renewal of contracts with electricity distributors that operate in 13 states, but left Enel out. The projection is that R$130 billion will be invested in improving infrastructure and customer service by 2030.
The event was attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, this Friday (7), in Brasília.
“This is the most significant round of investment in the modernization of energy distribution networks in the history of Brazil. We are talking about the generation of 100 thousand direct and indirect jobs, of 30 thousand trained professionals”, highlighted Silveira.
The renewal contracts cover 16 distributors and are subject to the rules and guidelines of Decree 12,068/2024, which established stricter rules for electricity distribution companies.
The old contracts, signed at the end of the 1990s, were considered undemanding in relation to quality criteria in the supply of electricity to Brazilian consumers. Now, distributors are committed to following all 17 guidelines established in the federal standard.
These parameters include the inclusion of consumer satisfaction as a performance indicator for distributors, the obligation to continuously improve the quality of supply and the definition of goals for restoring the service after extreme weather events.
“Before, the measurement of service quality was done by concession area. Now it will be done by neighborhoods. Therefore, the poorest neighborhoods will have the same quality standard as the richest neighborhoods. We are moving towards the end of blackouts and the annoying delay that we all know, in call centers”, explained the minister.
The new model also provides for greater oversight of investments by the responsible bodies, expansion of the quality of service in rural areas and strengthening of infrastructure aimed at family farming.
The new contracts cover the following states:
- Pará (R$ 12.2 billion)
- Maranhão (R$ 9.2 billion)
- Rio Grande do Norte (R$4.1 billion)
- Paraíba (R$ 2.8 billion)
- Pernambuco (R$ 9.8 billion)
- Bahia (R$ 24.8 billion)
- Sergipe (R$ 1.7 billion)
- Espírito Santo (R$4 billion)
- Rio de Janeiro (R$ 10 billion)
- São Paulo (R$ 26.2 billion)
- Mato Grosso (R$ 9.3 billion)
- Mato Grosso do Sul (R$4.4 billion)
- Rio Grande do Sul (R$ 9.6 billion)
Among the companies that had their contracts renewed are Light, Equatorial, Neoenergia, CPFL, EDP and Energisa.
Concessionaires must also annually prove their financial and operational capacity, as well as adopt measures to digitalize electrical networks, protect consumer data and regularize the sharing of poles between energy and telecommunications networks.
Light for All
At the same event, President Lula signed the update of a decree that modernizes the Luz para Todos program and expands its reach to more than 233 thousand new families.
The measure aims to allow an increase in strength and productive use of energy for families in the rural areas covered, enabling economic activities with the use of equipment that requires greater load.
