“Extreme concern.” The companies warn Caputo that the normal supply of electricity is at “serious risk”By Sofía Diamante

The business chambers that bring together the electricity generators and transporters They sent a harsh letter to the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputowarning him about the “serious risk to the normal supply of electricity”if transfers from the Treasury to the sector are not regularized.

During January and February, The Government decided to cut off the flow of funds to Cammesa, a private company, but controlled by the State, which is in charge of electrical energy dispatches. Through transfers from the Ministry of Economy, Cammesa used to provide the difference in money between what it costs to generate electricity and what residential users pay of all country. When these funds are cut off, Cammesa stopped paying the generators and transporters.

To the date, Cammesa owes half of the payment due for January, all of February and the March commitments expire next Tuesday. Total, There are around $1 billion that is owed to the electric energy sector.

Due to these delays, some companies began to have problems paying salariesas reported yesterday by Transener, the main company that operates high voltage lines in the country.

During January and February, the Government decided to cut off the flow of funds to Cammesa, a private company, but controlled by the State, that is in charge of electrical energy dispatches.

“We turn to you (…) to alert you about the payment status from the Administrative Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market SA (Cammesa) to the Transport Agents and Generators of the Wholesale Electricity Market (MEM)”, it says the letter signed by the presidents of the Association of Electrical Energy Transporters (Ateera) and the Association of Electrical Energy Generators (Ageera).

Among the generating companies are Pampa Energía (owned by businessman Marcelo Mindlin), Central Puerto, Enel (the owner of Edesur), Genneia, YPF Luz, AES, Pan American Energy (PAE) and MSU Energy.

”As you are aware, for the cancellation of the monthly transaction to transport agents and generators, under the current tariff policy and the regulator’s decision to subsidize demandcontributions are required monthly from the General Treasury of the Nation (TGN) to financially assist, via the unified fund, the Stabilization fund, in order to cover the difference between the average cost of the system and the income that Cammesa receives From the market [de las empresas distribuidoras, como Edenor y Edesur]”the letter says.

The companies said that They are “watching with extreme concern” what the Treasury “does not transfer, in a timely manner, the sums that Cammesa periodically reports and requests from the Ministry of Energy.” The companies said that, although Cammesa requested $884,043 million in February to meet its monthly obligationsthe Government only transferred $140,000 million.

“This generates delays in payment to transport agents and generators, putting the normal supply of electricity at serious risk.”they said.

The scenario is aggravated by arrears in payments from distribution companies, which represent a significant percentage of Cammesa’s collections. Last January, Cammesa’s income was made up of 59% from Treasury funds and 41% from distribution companies.

Letter from Adeera to Caputo about the crisis in the electricity sector

“As a result, Cammesa still owes transport agents and market generators 50% of the November 2023 transaction. [que venció en enero] and 100% of the December 2023 transaction [que venció en febrero]. We highlight that the transaction for the month of January 2024 will expire on March 12″, they clarified, since it is paid within 45 days.

“This context not only produces economic damage to our associates, but also affects the cancellation of current operating costs (salaries, taxes, suppliers, variable costs, etc.), while generating uncertainty for the planning of maintenance investments. and the normal development of tasks, putting at risk the operational continuity of the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI),” the letter says.

Finally, the companies asked the minister to “regulate the transfers of the necessary funds from the Treasury to Cammesa, to cancel the pending maturities of January and February 2024 and cover the financial needs for the electricity market upon the expiration of economic transactions.”

During February, according to accrued expenses published by the Congressional Budget Office (CPO), The Treasury allocated $319,984 million to energy subsidieswhich means a real drop of 59.5% compared to the same month last year.

“The transfers to Cammesa were $140,000 million (-71.8% real year-on-year drop), to address the gap between costs and rates of electricity generation. Transfers to Enarsa were $169,522 million (-34.5%) to cover the purchase of imported gas and other operating expenses. Financial assistance within the framework of the Gas Plan IV Gas.AR (decree 892/2020) was $6,434 million (-1.9%),” the OPC detailed.

Sofia Diamond

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