Impact of regulation on asset management: The value of lost load in Argentina as a regulatory signal to guide investment into residential or industrial sectors

The value of lost load (VOLL) is a key signal to guide investments in tariff system. The balancing of values between the industrial and residential sectors is not irrelevant; on the contrary, it is as important or even more than the numerical values. On this point focuses the work. The problem addressed is about whether or not the rebalancing done in recent years in Argentina on VOLL values for residential sector at the expense of the industrial sector denotes a unique sign for investment in Discos. The work covers the fundamentals of the VOLL as regulatory signal. After, it reviews the experience of Argentina and VOLL value developments in recent years. After it shows counterpoint between investments in residential and industrial policy as a result of the adoption of the VOLL. Finally it explains policy decisions as a result of the emerging logic of counterpoint between direct democracy and representative democracy. As a result, the paper shows clearly that there are no reasons for privileging the residential sector to the detriment of the industry through a rebalancing of VOL. We propose a proportionally better balanced treatment in relative terms, beyond the absolute numerical value of VOLL. This is a contribution from the economy of regulation to develop better management of assets for the distribution of electricity in Argentina.