According to the statistics of the General Superintendence of Electricity and Telecommunications (Siget), until March 22 of this year a preliminary increase of 4.16% was reported, which would be applied as of April 15 in the tariff schedule, as a result of the crisis. in the price of oil.
Likewise, he said that, if initiatives such as those approved were not taken, the country could suffer increases in the rate of between 5% and 6%, for which they proposed measures to alleviate the pockets of Salvadorans.
Faced with these problems, the government sent two pieces of correspondence to the Salvadoran Congress to reform the General Electricity Law and its regulations, with which the impact of the oil crisis has been reduced.
“Rest assured that thanks to these decrees that were sent to the Legislative Assembly, it will not suffer any increase during the crisis. What was planned to happen on April 15th is not going to happen anymore. With this, we stop it. There will be no reflection of the increase in the electricity bill, which was 4.16%, and which was budgeted in the rate” — explained the head of the CEL.
The official insisted that energy distributors are required to sign contracts to benefit Salvadorans, including in industry, commerce, and tourism.
“With the measures, we force distributors to contract the energy produced by CEL at a lower price than it operates and maintains. In addition, it must have a price that is below everything that comes from non-renewable energies such as bunkers, oil, and gas, among others» — he reaffirmed.
On the other hand, he confirmed that he has held meetings with the electricity distribution companies that accompany the initiatives and are willing to support them.
The price of energy changes in the country every January, April, July and October 15, and the variations are approved by the Siget. This is in accordance with the cost of generation in the previous quarter.
To date, according to the statistics of the National Energy Council (CNE), the hydroelectric plant injects 198.1 gigawatt-hours (GWh) into the national energy matrix, while the geothermal plant injects 307.7 GWh.
THERE IS NO INCREASE IN THE WATER BILL
Álvarez assured us that, as part of the government’s measures, CEL will supply energy to the National Administration of Aqueducts and Sewers (ANDA), which consumes a large amount of energy and has an impact on drinking water bills.
«The law was modified so that the CEL covers the ANDA demand and there is no increase in the electricity and water rates. The price of water cannot go up” — the official concluded.