Aneel appeals against an injunction that forces the transfer of distributor to Âmbar (Image: Getty Images)
A National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) filed an appeal this Thursday against the court decision that forced the regulator to approve, within 48 hours, the transfer of control of the Amazonas energy distributor to Âmbar, a company from the J&F group.
In the document, seen by ReutersAneel highlights the complexity of the process, which involves billion-dollar costs for electricity consumers across the country, and argues that there was “no stoppage or delay” in the progress of the analysis process of the proposal presented by Âmbar to take over the concessionaire amazonense.
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“On the contrary, this administrative process is now in its final phase, consisting of conclusion by the technical area and forwarding for deliberation by the agency’s collegiate board, an event that occurred on September 24, 2024”, says the appeal, which also mentions that the provisional measure on the matter does not establish a deadline for Aneel to signal the process.
Earlier this week, judge Jaiza Maria Pinto Fraxe, from the 1st Federal Civil Court of the Judiciary Section of Amazonas, granted an injunction determining that Aneel approve the corporate transfer plan of the Amazonian distributor under the terms proposed by Âmbar, from the Batista family conglomerate.
According to a technical analysis by the regulatory agency, this proposal will cost energy consumers across the country by 15.8 billion reais, double the 8 billion reais that the regulator's technicians calculate as sufficient to rebalance the concession.
In the appeal, Aneel also stated that the Court cannot determine the approval of the transfer of the distributor to Âmbar under the terms presented by the company, since this command enters the technical area of regulating the electricity market.
“The situation in the case is serious in that the court of origin did not even examine the conditions to promote the recovery of the economic-financial sustainability of the electricity distribution service, with a view to obtaining the lowest tariff impact for consumers…”.
This week, Aneel's technical area concluded its analysis of the public consultation carried out in the case of Amazonas Energia and recommended the rejection of Âmbar's proposal, stating that the conditions placed are not sufficient to guarantee the distributor's economic and financial recovery with the lower tariff impact for consumers.
According to Aneel, the analysis of the Amazonas Energia situation “cannot be subjected to pressure for quick decisions, without detailed studies and broad justification, compromising the security of the electricity sector and penalizing consumers”.
With a net debt of more than 11 billion reais, of which the Eletrobras is the main creditor, and a series of serious operational problems, Amazonas Energia is currently controlled by the Oliveira Energia group, which has been trying to get rid of the concession for almost two years.
J&F presented a proposal to take over the concessionaire after the government issued a provisional measure in June, with several actions considered essential to guarantee the economic and financial sustainability of the Amazonian distributor, which is at risk of expiry, and make it attractive to a new controller.