[05] Utilities reducing the non-technical losses

[05] Utilities reducing the non-technical losses

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‘If everything works out as we expect, the project should be a winner for all parties’, continues Garcia. ‘As for the utilities, they will now be able to bill for the energy they are supplying anyway.’ It is very important for them to reduce their non-technical losses. The government has set a cap on the percentage of the non-technical losses the utilities can charge through to the other customers, and this cap is expected to gradually grow stricter.

Another important aspect is that Brazilian electricity demand is growing at 6 to 7 per cent annually, requiring investments to build an extra 6,000 MW each year. Energy efficiency programmes should keep this growth within limits. There is also a law that mandates that utility companies invest at least one percent of their profits in energy efficiency projects. Slum electrification programmes with energy efficiency improvements count toward this quota.

A final argument for persuading the utility companies to participate is that official connections in slum areas reduce the number of line disturbances that are induced on the distribution net in this area. Legal connections will improve the power quality of the distribution grid in the surrounding neighbourhoods.