Energy tariff and demand response in Brazil: An analysis of recent proposals from the regulator

The development of the smart grid has received growing attention from various institutions of the Brazilian electricity sector since 2009. Recent Public Hearings held by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) aimed at presenting proposals for smart grid related regulation, and gathering contributions of different stakeholders regarding the issues discussed. The objective of this paper is to analyze some of the topics discussed in Public Hearing #120/2010, in which ANEEL proposed mechanisms to incorporate economic signals to the energy tariffs of regulated consumers supplied by distribution companies. These measures may be interpreted as efforts to begin the gradual advance of smart grid enabled demand response programs. As will be discussed in the paper, special attention should be given to the conciliation between the proposed measures and the particularities of the Brazilian electricity sector regulation, in order to implement such proposals in a smooth way.