Bolsonaro Backs Down on Granting Churches Discount on Peak-time Energy Use

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said on Wednesday, January 15th, that he has suspended any negotiations to grant subsidies to religious temples’ energy bills.

The decision comes after the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo disclosed last week that the government was preparing a decree to adopt the measure, at the request of the president himself, but that there was resistance from the economic team.

“I spoke with Silas Câmara (president of the evangelical benches in the Chamber) and with the (missionary) R. R. Soares and any negotiation in this regard is suspended,” said Bolsonaro on Wednesday when leaving the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

On Tuesday, January 14th, when addressing the matter, Bolsonaro said that he was taking a “hit” as a result of the measure, but he still had not made a decision.

Estado reported that at the request of the president, a draft decree was outlined by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and submitted to the Ministry of Economy, but the measure caused friction in the government since the economic team had rejected it.

According to the draft being studied by the government, the temples would not have to pay peak time rates, when there is more consumption, rather than those charged during the day, which are cheaper.

Each distributor has its own peak time, which lasts three consecutive hours and is concentrated between late afternoon and early evening on weekdays. At these times, energy consumption may be 50 percent higher, and usage fees go up to 300 percent. It is precisely during this period that temples usually hold services.

Earlier, in an interview with Broadcast Estadão, Silas Câmara said that a potential discount on the electricity bill for religious temples would be no significant contribution for the government, but was important for the evangelical benches.

He further said he would meet with the president to discuss the matter and would argue that the change in the bill, still under study, would have an “insignificant” impact on the accounts and thus could not be considered a subsidy. Last week, Bento Albuquerque, the minister of Mines and Energy, said the economic impact would represent R$37 (US$9,3) million.

According to Câmara, exempting temples from this charge would represent less than a rounding up of the price difference (tariff). “When the president talks to me, I will tell him that the impact of the discount is 0.02 percent.”

The measure, however, faced stout resistance in the Ministry of Economy. Minister Paulo Guedes’ team is against increasing subsidies as this distorts the pricing system and increases the cost of energy. Another argument raised by the portfolio is the fact that the Federal Audit Court (TCU) considers it unconstitutional to grant subsidies by decree on tariffs.