The impact of time-of-use electricity tariffs for Brazilian residential consumers using smart meter real data

Abstract

In 2011, the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) approved a new tariff structure for distribution services, the White Tariff, a time-varying tariff modality for retail consumers connected to low-voltage distribution grids. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate existing distortions in White Tariffs established by ANEEL for two Brazilian distribution utilities: Ampla and Coelce. Furthermore, through the analysis of the consumption profiles of residential customers located in these two companies, this paper reveals that those distortions can provide differentiated signals for similar consumers’ profile and also distinct revenue impacts for both distribution utilities. The real data came from electronic meters with mass memory. These measurements were carried out through specific devices that provide not only the total consumption but also its breakdown considering the relevant electric equipment existing in each analyzed household. As a result, taking into account the studied samples, 66.67% of Ampla’s clients would benefit from the new tariff compared to 98.33% of Coelce’s, which would lead to loss revenue of 1.96% for Ampla and 7.73% for Coelce.