Congress will decide to reduce electricity rates for 8 million Peruvian families

The plenary session of Congress will decide next week whether almost 8 million Peruvian families, MSEs, SMEs and industries will pay much higher electricity rates in the coming years.

This will occur if the modifications proposed by the Executive Branch through bill 4565 are not approved, which seeks to modify Law 28832 on the efficient development of electricity generation.

What the Executive Branch has proposed is to demolish the limitations that solar energy faces to compete in electricity market tenders and adapt the regulation, as other countries have already done, so that renewable energies can transfer their low generation costs to favor of end users, something that current regulations have not allowed until now.

It is estimated that the initial reduction could be 16% in the electricity rates paid by Peruvian households, according to Osinergmin calculations. This counteracts the upward trend that these rates have been registering in recent years.

Cheaper electricity rates with renewable energies

Indeed, According to the supervisory body, electricity rates in the residential area have increased by 32% during the last decadeand this trend will continue to rise if the electrical system does not incorporate new competitors, such as solar and wind energy, says Brendan Oviedo, president of the Peruvian Association of Renewable Energies (SPR).

“The current regulation, as written, limits the entry of new operators into the national electricity market and restricts the use of new technologies, which are now much cheaper and cleaner. This limitation is preventing us from lowering our electricity rate and, on the contrary, it will increase every year,” explains Oviedo.

The head of the SPR points out that Bill 4565 opens competition in the electricity sector so that all technologies participate on equal terms in bidding in the regulated market and in the free market, and in this way the costs can be taken lower electricity generation.

“Something that does not happen now despite the fact that renewable energies are much cheaper than conventional energy, that is, cheaper than hydroelectric generation and thermoelectric generation,” he indicates.

SPR: Plenary must decide this week better rates for everyone

In this context, the decision made by the Plenary of Congress will be particularly important, taking into account that Peru increasingly suffers the effects of climate change, such as droughts, which, due to our current dependence on hydroelectric plants, cause crises of electricity generation that increases rates.

For the SPR, this trend “must be reversed with renewable energies”, particularly with the entry of the potential of solar energy, concentrated in the south of our country.

Due to the effects of global warming, Peruvian glaciers have suffered a melting of more than 56% of their volume in the last 60 years, which causes yet another water restriction on electricity generation.

Osinergmin has indicated that if we do not make regulatory changes to open competition and allow the entry of new renewable generation under competitive conditions, we will face serious problems that will complicate the country’s economy because we will depend on diesel permanently to meet the demand. electrical demand.