Electricity and gas: there will be rate segmentation, but Mendoza will keep the cold zone

The national government formalized on Thursday the already announced segmentation of rates for electricity and gas services. The great novelty of the new scheme is that families with incomes above $330,410 will no longer receive subsidies and that the rest of the users must present an affidavit to maintain state assistance. The positive is that Mendoza will not lose the benefit of the cold zone (discounts of 30% and 50%)nor discounts for social rates.

Romina Ríos, president of the NGO Protectora, explained that “all benefits granted by previous laws will be maintained”, such as the aforementioned social rate and the cold zone, “Even the requirements are similar, which does not mean that there may be cases that give rise to claim for the inconsistency of data taken”, he warned.

WHAT DOES THE FINE PRINT SAY

Rate segmentation, which became official with the publication of Decree 332 signed by President Alberto Fernández, establishes differentiated actions for residential users with higher incomes, middle incomes, and lower incomes.

These universes will be defined by crossing data from the different official agencies, including Anses and AFIP. But, in addition, those who meet the requirements to continue receiving the subsidies must complete an affidavit that will be subject to periodic controls.

“There will be a registry and everyone must sign up to receive the subsidy,” said presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti. Strictly speaking, the aforementioned decree provided for the creation of the Single National Registry of Holders of Essential Public Services (ReNUT) and the Registry of Access to Energy Subsidies (RASE).

Precisely the RASE will be constituted “based on the sworn declarations presented by the users ” and, as the text indicates, “the Undersecretary of Energy Planning may require, periodically, the necessary information crossings to verify the veracity of the sworn declarations corresponding, by the authorization provided by each applicant, to properly manage the segmentation regime.”

SEGMENTATION

In principle, Cerruti calculated that 10% of the population will no longer receive assistance from the national State and will pay the full rate for their gas and electricity consumption.

The official pointed to the first category of the new scheme, which will be made up of families with net monthly incomes greater than 3.5 Total Basic Baskets (CBT), that is, about $333,410, according to the latest data for April.

Those who own three or more cars less than five years old will also be part of this universe; three or more properties; at least 1 aircraft or 1 luxury boat, or that have “corporate assets that externalize full economic capacity”.

The increases in that sector will be applied as of June and will continue “gradually and in bimonthly thirds” so that by the end of the year they are paying the full cost of the energy bill to them.

For now, the first calculations indicate that the elimination of all subsidies will quintuple the amounts of the bills, although it has not yet been officially specified what the percentage will be.

Households that earn more than a CBT ($95,260) will be part of the intermediate scale, as well as those users who own at least two properties, 1 vehicle up to three years old. The exception will be for those addresses in which there is at least one cohabitant with a Single Certificate of Disability (CUD).

In this case, the annual rate increase may not exceed the amount equivalent to 80% of the Salary Variation Coefficient (CVS) of the previous year.

The last scale is that of lower-income households, which do not exceed the equivalent of a CBT; who have a member with a Housing Certificate (ReNaBaP), with a certificate of disability or a Lifetime Pension for War Veterans of the South Atlantic. This category will also include homes in which a community dining room or picnic area registered with Renacom operates.

For this entire segment, “the impact on the invoice generated by the correction of the Energy component will be equivalent to a total annual percentage increase in your invoice not greater than 80% of the Salary Variation Coefficient (CVS) of the previous year”.

In the same decree, it was clarified that users considered to be of medium and low income “will not have a new increase in bills for the year 2022″.

Likewise, a special category will be created, under the figure of “Residential User of the Service”, which will group those people who do not appear as owners but who do use the public service. A clear example is that of the tenants.

Romina Ríos explained that in the case of gas, the segmentation will be almost automatic, because “the system is unified”. In the case of electricity, on the other hand, the Provincial Electricity Regulatory Entity (EPRE) will be the body in charge of seeing the list of users. “The social rate is granted by the province, and it is not fully subsidized,” said the president of Protectora.

LAST GAS INCREASE IN MENDOZA

The Energy made official, through the Official Gazette, the new rate schedules, with an increase of 20%, for residential users.

In this way, the announcement that had been made last Friday from the Energy Secretariat, directed by Darío Martínez, who ordered the Gas Regulatory Entity (Enargas) to advance in a recomposition close to that percentage for the rates of the gas. The decision implies that the increase will be given on the so-called “Price of Entry into the Transportation System” (PIST), that is, on the gas itself and not other components of the bill.

As they are monthly payments, but with bimonthly readings, the increased consumption will be reflected in the July-August or August-September bills, depending on how the data is taken in each household.