In Costa Rica, the draft Law on Harmonization of the National Electric System (SEN) still generates some disagreements about what the direction should be in this subsector of the market.
The document, which was made public in 2022 after being submitted to the Legislative Assembly under File No. 23,414 , aims, among other objectives, to achieve a smart, flexible, and low-cost electricity system. "Cheap electricity is an engine of development," emphasized Julio Carmiol , president of the Costa Rican Association of Large Energy Consumers (ACOGRACE) .
In conversation with Energía Estratégica , the ACOGRACE representative highlighted the importance of this law to promote competitive electricity prices, for example through reverse auctions that guarantee that electricity generation is awarded to the suppliers that offer the cheapest kWh.
According to him, this approach would foster healthy competition in the energy market and benefit all consumers. "If the harmonization law is implemented correctly, the outcome will be that the company awarded the contract to generate the most power will be the one that charges the lowest price through what is called an auction or reverse auction."
"I think that's the right approach," Julio Carmiol stated.
ACOGRACE 's voice rises with a clear focus: to promote competitiveness, efficiency and decarbonization in the electricity sector.
And a primary objective for the Association of Large Energy Consumers is not simply to obtain cheap electricity for a specific productive sector, but to guarantee affordable rates for all Costa Ricans. "Every time a project ends up costing three times its initial budget, it impacts rates for the next 20 years, and there's nothing that can be done about it," explains Carmiol . "We are advocating for decisions that aim to make all this plant construction as efficient as possible, and that it be awarded to the most competitive companies, because this has proven to be an engine of development." Diversified Energy Matrix and Distributed Generation The representative of Large Consumers also pointed out the need for a diversified system that balances generation sources to guarantee Costa Rica's energy security, since climatic phenomena like El Niño, which affect the availability of hydroelectric power in the country, end up impacting the costs and availability of renewable sources. "In 2022, the percentage of renewable energy was around 99.8%."
Thermal power plants were practically no longer used.
"This year, we expect to close above 90% renewable energy, but it will be a very big change to go from almost not using thermal energy, to going towards 8% or 10% of energy from fossil sources," he warned.
In this context, distributed solar energy emerges as a promising alternative in Costa Rica.
However, Costa Rica is going through a period of distortion in the distributed generation market, so the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) considered suspending the methodologies that set tariffs for distributed generation with solar panels.
When addressing the issue of access fees and support for customers who choose solar energy, Julio Carmiol emphasized the importance of properly assessing the associated costs.
In his words, "Having a backup has a cost; the question is how much it costs and how much to charge customers who have solar energy for backup."
Furthermore, he pointed out that this backup should be fairly assessed, since it does not involve delivering energy directly, but simply maintaining a certain capacity available on the electrical grid.
This concern is reflected in the current situation, where some distributors, such as the National Power and Light Company, are applying tariffs that double the electricity bill of users with solar panels, which, according to Carmiol, could discourage the adoption of this form of renewable energy.
At an ARESEP meeting in which ACOGRACE participated during the month of December, these issues were discussed and two distinct problems were identified: errors in billing and an error in the methodology regarding how the cost of backup is calculated, which are currently under evaluation ( see ).
Therefore, Julio Carmiol , president of the Costa Rican Association of Large Energy Consumers (ACOGRACE), emphasized the need to address these issues in an equitable and transparent manner to ensure that excessive burdens are not placed on users in the electricity sector.