Mario
Ruiz-Tagle, Neoenergia’s CEO, emphasized that, at this difficult
times for the country, the economy and the electric sector, the best
alternative is keeping investments so that the sector may be ready
for the recovery in consumption, after the impacts of Covid-19. “The
infrastructure sector, particularly the electric segment, is key for
the recovery of the economic activity. We are an essential service
and we will overcome this crisis”, he emphasized, during a virtual
seminar promoted by XP Investimentos.
Ruiz-Tagle
highlighted that the company has a solid cash position enabling it to
weather the current circumstances. However, he reiterated that
Neoenergia always foster for the capital discipline and monitors the
crisis evolution. According to the CEO, the company enjoys a
relatively better position, since the main group’s distributors are
located at the Northeast region, which is less affected by the
measures of mobility restrictions. Nevertheless, the executive
highlighted that the company follows all recommendations of the
health authorities and supports the social distancing.
“We
are a part of a strong group, Iberdrola, that have large operations
in Europe. We are experiencing the dramatic situation closely, but we
must bring energy to the population, to hospitals and other basic
services. We take full care of the health and safety of our employees
in the field and in local communities. I take this opportunity to
thank and highlight the quality and commitment of our technicians and
all those in the sector at this time of combating Covid-19,"
said the CEO.
The
executive also highlighted the need to provide even more support to
customers, such as the reinforcement of service on digital channels,
and actions such as the 12-fold installment payment of the energy
bill through credit card - a Neoenergia’s pioneering measure. “This
is a way to avoid default in the future. This is our responsibility,
as a strong company in the sector”. Other company’s action, he
says, is the support to the supply chain, where many of them are
small companies.
A JOINT SOLUTION
For
confronting the crisis, Neoenergia’s CEO advocated a joint
solution, involving all chain links (distribution, transmission and
trading companies and distributed solar-generated energy operators),
Aneel, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and other government entities
in order to avoid a crisis and the economic and financial imbalance
that may cause disruption to the sector, as occurred in 2010.
In
his words, distributors are the sector’s “cash cow”, but they
retain around 20% of the income, transferring the remaining amount to
further agents and, mainly, to the federal and state governments, as
taxes and sector charges. “A broad agreement is required to address
issues such as the deferred payment of taxes, losses generated by the
ongoing crisis, the matter of heavy sector subsidies, all of which
taking a toll on the account. The distribution network is the system
backbone and it needs to be properly valued and remunerated given its
key role in the sector”, finished Mario Ruiz-Tagle, Neoenergia’s
CEO.
This initiative is part of theIberdrola group's response to the Coronavírus.
