"Light for All" Program

Thanks to the National Program for Universalization of Access and Use of Electrical Energy – "Light for All" (Luz para Todos), about 16 million people have access to electricity in the Brazil now.

Electrical energy is fundamental for improving the quality of life and the socioeconomic development of communities. Through the "Light for All", electricity now reaches the portion of the Brazilian population that has not yet had access to this essential public service.

Learn more about this Federal Government Program, operated by our company:

History

According to data from the 2000 Census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), there were more than 2 million rural households in Brazil without access to electricity, which represented more than 10 million Brazilians who are not served by this public utility. A further aggravation to this situation of exclusion was the estimate that approximately 90% of these families had incomes below three minimum wages, mainly living in locations with a low Human Development Index (HDI).

Besides the large number of households to be served, the lower population density of the rural areas where they were located would require the installation of a large number of equipment and materials. This would require a greater effort from electricity distribution concessionaires and licensed dealers and rural electrification cooperatives, with investments made possible only in the long run and with a significant impact on the tariff to be paid by consumers.

In view of these reasons, the federal government has developed a Rural Electrification Program to intensify the pace of service, anticipating the universalization of the electricity service, and mitigate the tariff impact caused by the necessary works by allocating subsidized and financed resources. Therefore, on 11/11/2003, the National Program for Universalization of Access and Use of Electrical Energy – "Light for All" was established by Decree No. 4,873.

The resources required for the development of the Program come from the federal government as a subsidy through the Energetic Development Account (CDE), and as financing through the Global Reversal Reserve (RGR) or Caixa Econômica Federal, in addition to resources of involved state governments and the executing agents.

Initially, the plan was to serve the households identified by IBGE until the year 2008. However, during the execution of the Program, the involved agents identified a larger number of families without electricity, living in remote areas. This fact led to changes in the Program, with the publication of Decrees 6,442, of April 25, 2008, 7,324, of October 5, 2010, 7,520, of July 8, 2011, 7,656, of December 23 2011, No. 8,387, of 12/30/2014 and 9,357 of 4/27/2018, which resulted in the extension of the Program up to 2022 and the expansion of its objectives.

The operational structure of the Program, its procedures and technical, financial and works prioritization criteria are defined by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), through the Operation Manual of "Light for All" Program, approved by MME Ordinance No. 38 of 03/09/2004, and, as a complement, by the Manual for Assistance to Remote Regions of Isolated Systems, approved by Ordinance MME No. 321, of 08/14/2017. These Manuals have been reedited several times, and the current versions are available on the "Light for All" Program webpage maintained by MME.

At the end of 2013, the Program celebrated its 10th anniversary and reached the milestone of 15 million people benefited from its actions. In the same year, then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the achievements of the Program and stated that the Brazilian initiative is an example to be followed by other nations.

Eletrobras' Role

The "Light for All" Program is coordinated by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, operated by our company, as established by Ordinance MME No. 175, of 05/17/2017, and has as its executing agents the Concessionaires, Permissionaires and Electrical Energy Distribution Public Service Providers and Rural Electrification Cooperatives.

In the role of Program Operator, we are responsible for:

• Performing the technical budget analysis of the Works Programs proposed by the executing agents, as well as possible requests for reviewing goals and/or extension of deadlines;

• Entering into Operationalization Contracts, and their additives, with the respective executing agents;

• Managing the execution of these contracts, providing information to subsidize the release of financial resources by the Chamber of Electric Energy Commercialization (CCEE) and Caixa Econômica Federal, and providing the corroboration of the application of these resources.

Until 4/30/2017, Eletrobras was responsible for the release of funds from the sector funds, in the role of manager of the Global Reversal Reserve (RGR) and the Energetic Development Account (CDE). At the present moment, this function is under the responsibility of CCEE, according to Law No. 13,360 of 11/17/2016, which determined the transfer of administrative and financial management of sectoral funds as of 01/05/2017

Analysis and Contracting

In order to formalize a contract, we initially conduct the technical budget analysis of a Works Program, assisted by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, interacting with the executing agent until a condition that is compatible with the expected resources can be reached.

The Works Program, presented by the executing agent, features the quantification of the number of consumers to be served and the details of the necessary materials, equipment and services, with all the respective costs.

Once the analysis of the Works Program is completed and authorization has been obtained from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the process is started, aiming at the formalization of the legal instruments foreseen for the Program:

• Operationalization Contract between the executing agent and our company, which establishes the conditions for the execution of the Works Program and for corroborating the proper application of resources from the sectoral funds made available by CCEE;

• When there is the participation of the state, legal instrument signed between the executing agent and the state government, which establishes the resources and how they will be contributed; and

• When there is the participation of Caixa Econômica Federal, a legal instrument signed between it and the executing agent, which establishes the resources related to the counterpart financing of the executing agent and its application and release conditions.

Contract Management

With the purpose of facilitating the management of contracts signed with Eletrobras and the progress monitoring of the Works Programs, we have developed a computational tool for the management of Program projects. Executing agents can register in this tool the data on the physically completed works of each of the contracts signed with our company.

The corroboration of the proper use of resources is given by means of physical inspections and financial supervision. During physical inspections, our professionals make site visits and check the accuracy of the physical information registered by executing agents in the System. Financial inspections are performed to verify documents, collect data and confirm financial information sent to our company.

At the end of the contract, the credit closure process is performed, which is based on the comparison between the physical and financial achievements of the contract.

In order to cover the expenses that result from the operationalization function of the Program, Eletrobras receives funds from the Administrative Costs Reimbursement Rate (TRCA), paid by the executing agents, according to Program regulations. In the 2016/2017 biennium, these funds reached the total sum of BRL 19,647,427.31. In the same period, expenses incurred in the operationalization of the Program reached BRL 27,393,854.71, including support activities (information technology, legal advice, etc.).

Services in Remote Areas

During the execution of the "Light for All" Program, several situations were identified where the locations to be served were distant from the existing power distribution networks, with a difficult access, low population density and environmental conditions that hindered the construction of conventional networks.

These technical and environmental difficulties led to the analysis of other forms of care, such as the use of decentralized generation and renewable energy sources compatible with the local reality, and the construction of small sections of distribution networks (mini-grids), when necessary.

Therefore, by means of Ordinance No. 60, of February 12, 2009, of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and subsequently of Decree No. 8,493, of June 15, 2015, the conditions were established for service in remote areas within the scope of National Program for Universalization of Access and Use of Electrical Energy, in addition to the Works Programs that mainly use conventional distribution networks.

By providing for the use of resources from the Energetic Development Account (CDE), as an economic subsidy, the service to population in remote areas under the Program prioritizes the use of renewable energy sources through the use of decentralized generation systems through single generation systems with intermittent sources (SIGFI) and isolated mini-systems of electricity generation and distribution (MIGDI).

In the search for solutions for service in remote areas, we conducted several studies within the scope of International Technical Cooperation Projects.

Click here for more information

Results and Targets

In addition to bringing electricity to people who do not yet have access to this fundamental public utility of the improvement of communities' quality of life, the "Light for All" Program offers solutions for its use as a driver of social and economic development:

• It contributes to poverty reduction and increased household income;
  

• It facilitates integration with public services and social programs of the federal government;

• It provides the improvement of water supply, basic sanitation, health and education services, enhancing the social capital of communities;

• It enables the purchase of household appliances and electrical rural equipment by families;

• It generates jobs (priority is given to the use of local labor and the purchase of national materials and equipment);

• It encourages the permanence of the people in the field, with the improvement of the quality of life.

At the end of December 2018, the planned investments for the Program reached BRL 26.01 billion, with BRL 19.00 billion (73%) related to sectoral resources (Energetic Development Account - CDE and Global Reversal Reserve). - RGR), from which BRL 15.98 billion has already been released to the Executing Agents.

Since 2004, approximately 3.4 million calls have been made under the Program scope, benefiting more than 16.4 million people in the rural areas of Brazil.

                               Source: MME (12/31/2018)

Contracts Operationalized by Eletrobras

Taking into consideration only the contracts operated by our company, more than 542,000 projects were carried out, distributed in 5,435 municipalities, resulting in the attendance of 2,993,947 connections in the Brazilian rural area, as well as the construction of more than 784,000 km of electricity distribution network in high and low voltage, the implementation of 8.19 million poles, the installation of 1.14 million transformers and the deployment of over 3,500 individual photovoltaic systems and 17 collective photovoltaic systems.

Find out, below, the details of the number of consumers served by the Program, covering only the contracts signed by our company:

Notes:

• Survey based on the information presented by the executing agents, covering only the contracts signed by Eletrobras;
  

• More information about the Program, including contracts that are not operated by Eletrobras, can be obtained from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Complementary Actions

For the universalization of the electricity service and the integrated and sustainable development of rural communities, we conduct additional actions in contribution to the "Light for All" Program.

International Technical Cooperation Projects

We support electricity distributors serving remote regions of the country by means of International Technical Cooperation Projects. From these cooperations, studies were developed focusing on the service in remote areas and the use of renewable energy sources, resulting in the support to the implementation of pilot projects and the publication of technical guides and manuals.

Learn more about International Technical Cooperation Projects

Community Production Centers (CCPs)

In order to encourage the productive use of electricity in rural communities, we have encouraged the creation of Community Production Centers (CCPs), which facilitate the production, processing and marketing of local products.

Learn more about the Production Community Centers (CCPs)

More Information

"Light for All" Program - Ministry of Mines and Energy

Ministry of Mines and Energy webpage, with information about the program, legislation, publications and more.

"Light for All" Program - Summary Report - 10 Years

Document prepared by our company, with information about the program and the results obtained after 10 years.

Chamber of Electric Energy Commercialization (CCEE)

CCEE website, manager of the Global Reversion Reserve (RGR) and Energetic Development Account (CDE).

Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL)

ANEEL website, regulatory agency of the Brazilian electricity sector.