The retention of the incentive rate is a request of the industrial sector from the Ministry of Energy and Mining, to which, according to the president of the Chamber of Industry of Guayaquil, Francisco Jarrín, they submitted a proposal to reduce the demand for electricity that has a similar effect of self-generation. This comes amid the announcement of the 2024 tariff plan.

On December 1, the Ministry reported that, despite the critical situation in the power sector, there will be no increase in rates for the residential and commercial sectors. And the incentives will continue for small industries and for medium and large industries that are self-sufficient during the dry season with their own production and avoid using energy from the national connected system.

There will be no rate increase for the residential and business sectors, announced the Ministry of Energy

Jarrín pointed out that it is not enough to have production capacity, but also that the energy produced must be sufficient to supply its processes, in addition to being immediately usable.

The businessman explained that from a sample of 1,001 manufacturing industries at the Costa level (from the INEC 2021 manufacturing survey), only 45 companies could be identified that meet the above requirements.

In addition, he said that each company determines whether it is possible, from a technical and economic point of view, to expand these capacities in the short term depending on the source of production. As an example, he stated that in about four months one company (he did not say the name) will be ready to increase its photovoltaic production capacity by 1 MW.

Who pays the price of electricity for commercial and residential units?

The President of the Chamber indicated that at this week’s meeting with the Minister of Energy, Andrea Arroba, they told her that the current night price should be maintained and that they are available to provide the necessary technical support.

Since January 2018, a tariff incentive has been in effect for the industrial sector, consisting of a reduction in the price of electricity from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. However, on November 17, the Ministry of Energy of the administration of former President Guillermo Lasso ordered the Agency for Regulation and Control of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources to “proceed with the elimination of tariff incentives for the industrial sector.”

The Minister of Energy met with industrialists to coordinate their own production of electricity from the private sector

Jarrín commented that in addition to addressing the issue of self-generation in the meeting with Arroba, they also addressed other points that can be worked on in the short and medium term to prevent the recurrence of blackouts. “As the Chamber of Industry of Guayaquil, we are always willing to cooperate with the authorities and be a bridge between the private sector and the public sector in search of solutions,” he pointed out.

In this sense, he said, even the parallel proposal is on the side of reducing demand, which has a similar effect as the own production of electricity, which tries to overcome the deficit in supply. “We submitted to the minister a proposal to reduce demand by 16,300 MWh from some industries for the month of December. We hope that others will join as opportunities allow, clearly that the industry is not part of the problem, but that it can be part of the solution,” he said.