Aneel denies Equatorial Piauí advance of R$ 274.5 million

Brazil's electricity regulator, Aneel, denied a request by Equatorial Piauí to receive an advance transfer of R$ 274.5 million. The funds originate from the renegotiation of public asset use (Uso de Bem Público, or UBP) instalments. In her vote, Director Ludimila Lima rejected the distributor's preliminary injunction, which sought the funds before its 2026 tariff adjustment scheduled for December 2.

Equatorial Piauí requested that the power trading chamber, CCEE, immediately transfer the preliminary amount recognized by Aneel, or alternatively release a partial installment. The company argued that keeping the funds in the Energy Development Account (CDE) until December would cause an estimated R$ 8.66 million loss to consumers between September and December 2026, equivalent to an average tariff impact of approximately 0.24%.

Aneel's tariff management unit, STR, estimated a different impact, projecting that an advance transfer of R$ 274.55 million would generate a net benefit of R$ 1.32 million. However, Director Lima noted that changing the schedule would disrupt benefit distribution among distributors. She emphasized that the rejection does not eliminate Equatorial Piauí's right to the funds, which will be disbursed under standard rules following the final approval of the 2026 tariff process.

The regulator also pointed to existing uncertainties, including an Extraordinary Tariff Review involving R$ 399.90 million at December 2, 2025 prices, which still awaits a board decision. Across all eligible distributors, preliminary UBP allocations total R$ 5.48 billion, accompanied by a preliminary balanced tariff limit cap of 6.53%.