The modernization of Chile's Electricity Law must review transmission planning and provide greater flexibility in line development to prevent infrastructure from lagging behind system needs. This was the position put forward by Arturo Le Blanc , president of Transmisoras de Chile, who outlined several changes the sector expects to discuss in the process that will begin in September.
“In Chile we have a centralized planning system and I understand the pressure the authorities have to be cost-efficient, but it cannot be the only criterion,” he said.
The argument rests on a specific time gap. As he explained, while a photovoltaic or wind farm can be built in two or three years , the complete development of a power line can take between 10 and 15 years , considering planning, permits, and construction.
The National Energy Commission (CNE) itself acknowledges that the transmission expansion cycle can extend between seven and ten years and that it must respond simultaneously to renewable growth, storage, electromobility, data centers, desalination plants and new consumption hubs.
Le Blanc also outlined the existing gap of around 3000 MW of transmission capacity, which would represent investments of close to USD 1500 million .
The problem is already impacting the utilization of available generation capacity. The Ministry of Energy's 2026-2030 Energy Roadmap indicates that in 2025, Chile recorded over 6,000 GWh of renewable energy lost due to transmission bottlenecks , despite the fact that over 60% of the country's installed capacity already comes from renewable sources and around two-thirds of the electricity generated that year came from these technologies.
Furthermore, the timeline is already set. Undersecretary of Energy Hugo Briones announced that the first week of September will see the start of the modernization sessions for the Electricity Law , focusing on distribution and directly related transmission issues. The Ministry aims to complete the technical work by December in order to subsequently move forward with the legislative process.
In that context, Le Blanc questioned whether the expansion of networks should be defined primarily under a cost-efficiency logic and called for planning capable of anticipating future needs.
Four out of ten projects are experiencing significant delays
Project execution times are another point that Transmisoras seeks to bring to the regulatory discussion. The most recent data from the National Electric Coordinator shows that, as of May 31, 2026, the agency was overseeing 161 transmission projects , of which 65, equivalent to 40%, had deviations of more than 10% from their schedules .
The situation is most pronounced among new construction projects , where the percentage reaches 49% , and expansion projects , at 46% . Among the main causes of the delays, the Coordinator identifies difficulties associated with environmental permits, land management, re-tendering processes, and construction requirements .
That chart explains Le Blanc's request to incorporate greater adaptability once a line enters development.
The executive gave the example that a property owner or community can accept the passage of an infrastructure, but later request that the route be moved a few hundred meters to make it compatible with existing or future activities.
“We can’t adapt to that. Why? We lose the electricity concession, we lose the permits,” he said.
According to the industry, the reform should allow adjustments of this type without forcing the developer to go back through entire authorization stages.
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The scale of the projects makes this discussion particularly sensitive. In March 2026, the Coordinator launched an international tender for 17 new transmission projects worth USD 480 million , including new substations and lines at various points in the National Electric System.
Broadcasters ask to advance investments
The second fundamental change proposed by Le Blanc aims to modify the temporal logic with which the expansion is decided.
According to him, studies developed by the Institute for Complex Systems Engineering (ISCI) show that even planning that considers some additional capacity can generate benefits that outweigh the cost of having built infrastructure before it becomes strictly necessary.
“If we had planned even by overinvesting a little in lines, the systemic benefits and those for the end customer would always have outweighed it,” he stated.
This approach gains traction in light of the system's growth projections. A report presented by the Infrastructure Policy Council (CPI) estimates that Chilean electricity demand will exceed 100,000 GWh by 2035 and that the grid should expand by approximately 40% during that period .
For transmission companies, this evolution requires evaluating new lines not only based on current congestion, but also on the generation, storage, and demand that will need to be connected during the next decade.
Permits: “Not everything requires a law”
Le Blanc also warned that some of the necessary changes can be implemented without waiting for legislative reform.
“I believe that not everything requires a law. There are many issues, again, that come down to common sense,” he argued.
One of the examples mentioned was the precision required from early stages regarding the location of the structures of a line, even though projects of hundreds of kilometers may later encounter territorial, environmental or heritage restrictions that are impossible to anticipate in detail.
The proposal, he clarified, is not aimed at reducing environmental requirements.
“We are not asking for the standard to be lowered. All we are asking is that we have to anticipate the standard, we have to know what is expected of us,” he emphasized.
The CNE recognizes the same challenge from a planning perspective: in July it identified among the main problems of the segment tenders with low participation, works declared void, construction delays and greater social and environmental complexities in the territory .
For Le Blanc, the discussion that will begin in September must resolve precisely that combination of obstacles: how to plan ahead, execute faster, and allow the lines to adapt during their development , without reducing the required standards.
“These projects don’t belong to a company; they are projects for the country. A company develops them, but they are projects for the country,” he concluded.