The President pointed out that this package of seven announced measures establishes a new role for the State in the planning, regulation and management of the sector.
Bachelet presents Energy Agenda focused on improving competition and reducing prices
The President of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet, announced this morning the details of the Energy Agenda that she will promote during her administration and that will seek, among other things, to reduce energy prices for companies and individuals in the coming years.
“We urgently need to take decisive action on this matter now. We cannot remain immobile because if things continue as they are in 10 more years the cost of electricity could rise by 34%”, explained the Head of State.
Firstly, the President stated that this agenda “establishes a new role for the State in the planning, regulation and management of the sector. The State has a responsibility; it is responsible for the leadership of the actions undertaken in this area”.
In this sense, he stated that they will strengthen Enap “so that it becomes a relevant actor in terms of energy search and supply, for which we are going to capitalize it with US$ 400 million additions”.
Another of the points raised by the President is the reduction of energy prices “ensuring more competition, efficiency and diversification in this market”.
“Industries know it, in the last 10 years prices for their electricity consumption have doubled. We want new players to enter the market, for that we will redesign the bidding bases for short and long term supply”, he added.
Bachelet stated that they will promote electricity generation with liquefied natural gas, and will therefore work to offer greater availability of regasification terminals.
“Yesterday we inaugurated the second phase of GNL Mejillones, and together with the expansion of the Quinteros terminal, we will build a third terminal in the central-south zone with Enap’s participation. In addition, we will regulate the network gas distribution market to reduce its costs”.
Renewable resources
As a third point, the authority explained that they have the challenge of promoting energy resources. “Chile has a tremendous opportunity to become a regional power if we take advantage of renewable resources. And not only water, but also solar, wind and tidal. We will also promote the exploration and generation of geothermal energy. We are going to encourage, both normatively and financially, which projects of this nature materialize”.
In this sense, he pointed out that “as the example begins at home, the State will start installing solar panels on the roofs of public buildings to supply their consumption”.
As a fourth measure, Bachelet announced that energy transmission and connectivity must be improved. The objective of this point, he said, is to interconnect the Norte Grande Interconnected System (SING) and the Central Interconnected System (SIC). In addition, he revealed that in the first half of 2015 they will send a bill that will allow them to have a new regulatory framework for energy transmission.
State energy efficiency
For the Head of State, the fifth point considers that energy efficiency should be a State policy that constitutes a rule and not an exception. Therefore, “our goal is that by 2025 we will be able to reduce our electricity consumption by 20% compared to that expected at that date”.
As a sixth measure, the President declared that they will boost energy investment by providing the Ministry of Energy with the capacity to monitor and accelerate the follow-up and management of the generation and transmission projects that the country needs.
On the last point, the President said that “we have learned a very valuable lesson, which is the importance of community participation for the success of an energy project; we know that it is much more efficient to work with the people from the beginning in order to build agreements that allow the communities that host these projects to benefit from their installation”.
“We want to work very hard on land management plans. One of the commitments we have made to the public in this area, which is very important not only for energy projects but also for others, is that we can all sit down and do this work with time and responsibility,” he added.
At the end of her presentation, Bachelet stated that in this energy agenda “we do not believe that there are magic recipes. Our energy problems are not solved just by turning on or off a switch, they are solved with a clear, coherent framework so that we can all get down to work. And that is what we are betting on.
“Chile cannot continue gambling, we must act now to reach the horizon that we are defining together. We have the conviction and political will so that we do not remain once again in the diagnosis, and that we can begin to feel the changes”, he concluded.
The announcement of this package of measures was one of the 56 commitments for the first 100 days of the current government, and according to the President, it considers an investment of US$ 250 million over the next four years.
