The Uruguayan Association of Private Electric Power Generators (Augpee) urged joint venture to compete in the market electric powerwithin the framework of the decree signed by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM), by which private generators of renewable energy to agree sales contracts with large private consumers.
Augpee’s President, martin bocageexpressed in Radio Carve that he felt “disappointed” by the fact that the autonomous entity is “afraid to compete in 20% of the market.”
In recent days, the director of UTE for Town meeting (AC), Enrique Pees Bozand the director of the autonomous entity for which broad front (FA), fernanda cardonawarned of the existence of the risk that large clients leave the state company completely and start supplying themselves with independent generators, which are in a position that allows them to offer better prices.
Bocage assures that this is not correct, since the fact of ceasing to be “under the umbrella of UTE” and becoming free, does not imply a total loss for the state company, because, except for its own energythey must continue to be paid to joint venture tolls (infrastructure) and power.
At the middle of the month, pées boz He affirmed that the autonomous entity is in “a privatization process that began 35 years ago,” and pointed out that the MIEM decree goes in the same direction.
For the economist, the losses that UTE will have to assume due to this situation will be transferred to the bills of residential customers and will affect the treasury, since transfers for tax collection from UTE to General Income.
The decree would subtract some 280 million dollars a year from UTE, according to Pées Boz, which must be recovered through the rates of the 1.6 million users.
According to the state-owned company, there are some 1,000 companies that represent 18% of the energy consumed in the country, of which some 96 (almost 10%) “would be able to migrate” to private generators.
UTE will not suffer a massive emigration of large clients, according to Augpee
for the president of Augpee, This indicates that this portion of the market “is not going to be transferred massively to the private sector either”, so it would not represent a big problem for the state company.
“Public and private generators have to adapt to market conditions, compete and give more efficiency,” he said. Bocage. “We believe that the decree is positive” and “consumers will have lower rates,” he stressed.
Source: Ambito
