New energy model to be sent to Congress by Nov. 30

Brazil's new energy model should be sent to congress by the end of the month, Luiz Pinguelli, the president of federal holding company Eletrobras, said in a presentation to the Power-Gen Latin America congress in Sao Paulo. "Part of the new model could be put into effect immediately by a presidential decree, and the rest has to be passed by congress," said Pinguelli. Congress would deliberate the model and pass it next year, as well as modifying parts of the presidential decree, he said. Pinguelli defended the model, saying that the aim is to provide affordable energy to consumers by combining power supplies from cheap, amortized hydroelectric plants with newer, more expensive power projects. The Eletrobras head said the model would ensure affordable for the country's large industrial base. "We need to have competitive rates at the international level for the aluminum industry," he said. It is likely that the new model would take effect from January 2005 instead of January 2004, local press quoted mines and energy ministry undersecretary Mauricio Tolmasquim as saying. Distributors will not start to trade energy in the pool format under the new model until 2004 because they have contracted most of their needs for next year already, he said. Pinguelli said that it is in Eletrobras's interest that the pool begins operating as soon as possible.