Fonte: ANEEL 
The collegiate board of the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) approved a public hearing to collect subsidies and additional information on the regulation of electronic prepayment and post-payment for electricity.The theme will be in hearing from 6/28 to 9/25.

According to the draft of the resolution proposed in hearing, implementation of these modalities can be carried out by the distributor and consumer adherence will be voluntary and at no charge.The consumer can go back to the previous modality at any time, and this request shall be attended to within 30 days.The consumer who adheres to prepayment will receive an initial credit of 5 kWh, and if he has any debt with the distributor, this debt can be divided in installments and discounted when credits are purchased, limited to a ceiling of 10% of the purchase.Furthermore, if credits are depleted and there is a temporary impossibility to acquire them, the consumer can request an emergency credit from the distributor, which shall be made available any day and time of the week.Also in accordance with the new regulation, the tariff for both modalities will be the same as the traditional billing modality, and the distributor can offer lower tariffs for those who adhere to these modalities.

With approval of the regulation, ANEEL seeks a series of benefits for distributors and, most especially, for consumers.They include:improved management of energy consumption by the consumer; greater transparency in relation to daily expenses through real time information; flexibility in energy acquisition and payment; elimination of fines, late interest payments and reconnection fees; and savings in the household budget by changing consumer habits.The distributor expects reductions in operational costs; fewer defaults; and improved relationships between the company and its consumers, avoiding inconveniences generated by reading errors, estimated billing, improper cutoffs and off-hour reconnection problems.

Those interested can send contributions for this process from 6/28 to 9/25 to: ap048_2012@aneel.gov.br, by fax (61) 2192-8839 or to the Agency’s address at SGAN, Quadra 603, Módulo I, Térreo, Protocolo Geral, CEP:70.830-030, in Brasília (FD).There will be physical presence sessions of the hearing in ten major cities.They are:Belém, Salvador, Fortaleza, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Cuiabá, Brasília, Florianópolis and Porto Alegre.The dates and locations of the sessions will be released later on the ANEEL website.

Before submitting the regulation to public hearing, ANEEL, among other actions, promoted the International Seminar on Prepayment and conducted a technical visit at Maués (AM) to observe the adoption of the modality in remote communities.(DB/JV/MO/MB)