Electricity (light) rate increases are already being felt
in homes, businesses, industries, buildings, clubs and multiple other facilities throughout the country.
The electricity bills have multiplied several times
in recent months.
At the national level, the Government specified an increase in the price of wholesale energy, which determined the
removal of subsidies
for all high-income or high-net-worth households and those who did not ask for or renounced State aid (Level 1 -N1 users). - segmentation) and all other non-home users.
And in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires (AMBA), as well as in the provinces and municipalities, there was an
increase in the distributors' margins
.
How to understand changes in electricity bills
Next,
Clarín
presents a
guide to understand electricity bills after the increases
. A brief summary of what to look at: energy consumption, tariff categories and the four different prices that have already existed so far this year in the
Edenor and Edesur
concession areas .
Consumption
: as always, the central element of a ticket is energy consumption. In the case of electricity, it is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh), which modifies the variable charge. During the summer, consumption is usually higher than the rest of the year.
Consumption categories and income segmentation levels for households. Source: Edenor.
New tariff categories
: the Government first reduced and then expanded the categories according to consumption levels on which fixed and variable charges are defined. The higher the category, the more you pay.
As of February 16, the 9 categories that existed (R1 to R9) were reduced to 4. Seeing the strong impact that there would be on thousands of homes, the National Electricity Regulatory Entity (ENRE) reversed course and moderated those changes, to distribute them into 6 categories (R1 to R6) from April 1.
Different prices for the same service
: the combination of rate increases, removal of subsidies, progress and reversal in a new categorization of users according to their consumption caused that in the AMBA there were
4 different prices so far this year
at the same level of electrical demand.
From
January 1 to January 31
, the old rates, which the Government inherited, governed.
For 15 days, from
February 1 to 15
, only the new wholesale energy prices were applied (in effect from February to April, inclusive) with the elimination of subsidies for some users and slight increases for middle-income and vulnerable households. .
Between
February 16 and March 31
, wholesale prices and new distribution and transportation values for four categories of households according to consumption.
From
April 1
onwards, the expansion to six categories of users.
What four items should you look at in the electricity bills?
Energy consumption and
billed period
(companies read the meters
every two months
).
Monthly billing
, with fixed and variable charges.
Consumption category
, from R1 to R9 (until mid-February); up to R4 (45 days between February and March), or up to R6 from April.
The fixed charge had greater increases than the variable charge
, to achieve a flat rate throughout the year. The effect for the user is that in summer there is not such a notable jump in bills, starting from higher bases; while for companies, they are rewarded by costs, which are stable throughout the year.
An example.
A Level 1 (high income) household in Recoleta paid $16,250 in February
, corresponding to the second monthly installment of the consumption period billed between October 30 and December 28, 2023 - a two-month period -, with a total demand of 860 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and an "ex" R4 category.
In March, that same household rose to $32,800, because it began to pay the first monthly installment of the bimonthly consumption period between December 28, 2023 and February 28, 2024, with a jump in its consumption to 1,381 kWh and a upgrade to "ex R7". That is why the fixed charge and the variable charge increased slightly.
Finally,
in April, that user received an invoice for $80,500
, which is the second monthly installment of the billed period but has multiple different tariff prices: those for January, those for a portion of February and those for the last half of that month.
For the same amount of consumption, the fixed charge increased by 419% and the variable charge by 180%. But the final increase in his bill was 395% (it was multiplied by 5 in two months) due to the change in category, consuming more energy.
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On your bill you can check your consumption, thus knowing what R you are at and how much you are going to pay per kWh. Go here to find out more 👉 https://t.co/xmt9fiMl24 pic.twitter.com/FZ6MLwVjbC
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These variations are happening throughout the country, and more especially in the AMBA, which had far delayed rates.
There is an additional one:
about 10,000 users out of a total of 5 million have been receiving invoices in recent months that arrive at $0 ("free") for refunds on previous consumption
.
On these tickets there are readings that indicate that it is a fine corresponding to ENRE resolutions 850 to 853 of 2023, which
sanctioned companies for errors in billing
or problems that occurred with the service in 2022.
Once these returns are completed, the Users will pay their real consumption with full rates
.
Since Edenor and Edesur begin billing for the period that began in March,
the increase in rates
and the removal of state aid will be much more noticeable, as Clarín already reported weeks ago. Of every $100 that a household pays in the AMBA, $40 is for the cost of electricity generation; $35 for tax; and $25 goes to distributors.
The Government's intention is
to reduce public spending
on energy subsidies and provoke a change in users:
generate awareness that energy is expensive throughout the world and that rational and efficient consumption must be made
. What is not used in the domestic market will be sent as exports and there will be a favorable trade balance for Argentina, with a greater amount of dollar entry.