they remove electricity and gas subsidies

Finally, the national government made official on Wednesday the maximum subsidized consumption limits and bonuses on wholesale prices of electricity and natural gas for medium and low-income users, who will pay more for the electricity and gas they use. but they will also have new lower subsidized consumption limits.

The measure, which will come into force in June, was announced through four resolutions published in the Official Gazette yesterday by the Ministry of Energy, led by Eduardo Chirillo, under the Ministry of Economy of Luis Caputo.

“This marks the beginning of the process to move from a generalized subsidy regime to a focused one, in which the user can know the cost of the kwh of electrical energy and m3 of natural gas that is identical for all, and the assistance that will be provided.” The National State provides users according to their payment capacity and reaches up to a limited consumption limit through the recognition of a lower payment (bonus). “This avoids the opacity of the rates paid by end users,” the Ministry of Energy published through its website.

With this measure, in 7 out of 10 homes, the subsidized consumption limits will be increasingly lower, residential users could receive increases that in some cases will exceed 155% for electrical energy, according to the first private estimates and official calculations . In the case of gas, the increases are more moderate, up to 30% compared to previous bills.

It is important to highlight that due to the current segmentation of subsidies, there are three types of households: high-income (N1), low-income (N2) and middle-income (N3). The N2 and N3 cover only a small part of the costs of the energy they consume, which is one of the items on the bills, in addition to the cost of transportation, distribution and national, municipal and provincial taxes.

Consumption caps

bonuses:

1) In the case of natural gas: N1 has no limits. N3 maintains the established limits in force. The same consumption limits apply to the N2 as for the N3.

2) In electrical energy: N1 has no limits. N3, subsidized amount of 250 kWh/month, replacing 400 kWh/month; N2 will have a maximum subsidized consumption of 350 kWh/month, leaving aside the fact that these users did not have any limit to subsidized consumption, encouraging efficient and responsible consumption with this measure.

The new consumption limits for electrical users without access to the natural gas service through networks and indiluted propane gas through networks, located in certain bioclimatic zones, only for the period from June 1 to August 31, 2024, are: N3 , 500 kWh/month and N2, 700 kWh/month.

Bonuses on

wholesale prices

1) Natural Gas: For N1 users there will be no bonus, they pay the PIST (Entry Point to the Transportation System) price set by the Ministry of Energy. The N3 will have a bonus of 55% of the gas price in PIST, corresponding to the N1. Excess consumption will be valued at the gas price in PIST, without bonus. The N2 will have a bonus of 64% of the gas price in PIST. Excess consumption will be valued at the price defined for N1, without bonus.

2) Electric Energy: For N1 users there will be no bonus, they pay the PEST price set by the Ministry of Energy. N3 users will have a 55.94% bonus on the price defined for the N1 segment. The excess consumption will be valued at the price defined for N1. And N2 users will have a bonus of 71.92% on the price defined for N1. Excess consumption will be valued at the price defined for N1, without bonus.

In addition, specific subsidy regimes such as Social Tariff and Cold Zone are maintained; and for Public Good entities, Neighborhood and Town Clubs, and the bonuses are applied to the price of natural gas and electric energy for N2 for the total volume consumed.

critics

Once the announcement was known, the provincial deputy of Unión por la Patria, Juan Carlo Ledesma, expressed his concern about the elimination of subsidies for gas and electricity, something he maintained will negatively impact the bills of families and small businesses.

Faced with this situation, the official deputy stated that “the measure, which has been received with discontent by the population, poses an additional challenge in an already complex context because many households will be forced to resort to alternative methods to satisfy their needs.” “basic”.

For Ledesma, “soon we will return to cooking with firewood or depending on candles and gas lamps to illuminate our homes.”