02/10/2024 – 15:44
By Leticia Fucuchima
SÃO PAULO (Reuters) – Âmbar Energia intends to reject the proposal approved on Tuesday by the regulatory agency Aneel so that the company can take control of the Amazonas electricity distributor.
In a meeting the day before, Aneel approved the transfer of control of the Amazonian concessionaire as long as Âmbar agreed to sign, within 24 hours, an alternative plan to the one presented by the company.
Amazonas Energia was privatized in 2018, when Eletrobras was still state-owned, and since then its controlling company, Oliveira Energia, has been unable to improve the distributor’s economic-financial and operational situation. Among the main problems are non-technical losses (theft) of energy, which reach 120%, and high debt, of more than 10 billion reais.
Agents in the energy distribution sector and even banks such as BTG have analyzed the concession in recent years, but Âmbar was the only one willing to take over the concessionaire, after the provisional measure on the subject was issued this year.
Âmbar is controlled by the J&F holding, owned by the Batista brothers and also the controller of the meat processor JBS.
Aneel’s proposal is based on an analysis of its technical area, which identified that the costs that energy consumers will have to bear to contribute to the economic-financial and operational recovery of the Amazonas distributor can be reduced by half, to around 8 billion reais in 15 years, compared to the 16 billion reais in the plan prepared by Âmbar.
The conditions approved by the regulator also provide for a solution to the distributor’s 10 billion reais debt by the end of the year, a point that Âmbar had already disagreed with.
In a statement, the energy company said it has no interest in continuing with the plan under the conditions approved by Aneel.
“The decision makes it impossible to recover a company (Amazonas Energia) that lost 40 billion reais in the last 25 years. As an alternative to intervention or the expiry of the concession, which would cause serious risks to the energy supply and high costs to the public coffers, Âmbar will ask for the decision to be reconsidered”, says the company.
The transfer of control of Amazonas Energia to Âmbar is also being discussed in court.
Last week, the Amazonas Court granted an injunction forcing Aneel to approve the deal under the terms presented by Âmbar, but a first vote by the regulatory body’s board on the issue ended in a draw. The day before, the general director changed his vote and Aneel approved by majority an alternative plan to that of Âmbar, with the conditions set by the technical area.
If it accepted Aneel’s proposal, Amazonas Energia would have to waive the right to discuss the transfer of its control in court, including in the ongoing legal action.
The day before, after the Aneel board meeting, Amazonas Energia returned to court, in the case it is taking against the regulator, to say that the approved proposal was not in compliance with the preliminary decision granted last week, which forced the acceptance of the plan. presented by Âmbar in June.
The Amazonian concessionaire also asked the Court that the general director of Aneel comply with the court decision in a monocratic manner and approve the transfer of control under the terms of Âmbar’s latest proposal, last week, as it had a favorable vote from director Agnes of Coast.
New plans for the transfer of control were being presented last week, including the night before and during Aneel’s extraordinary meeting called hastily to deliberate on the issue, in an attitude by the companies that was harshly criticized by the directors of the regulatory body.
According to the latest plan presented, costs to energy consumers would fall from 16 billion reais to 14 billion reais in 15 years. Amazonas’ debt would be reduced in the first few years, with a capital contribution of 2 billion reais until the end of this year and another 4.5 billion in 2025.
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