Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, January 8.- The Ministers of Finance and Prices and of Energy and Mines and the economic vice president of CIMEX appear at the Round Table to inform and explain the Government's decisions related to the issues of electricity, fuels and Liquefied Gas.
Minister of Finance and Prices: The measures should not be seen in isolation
At the beginning of his intervention at the Round Table, Vladimir Reguero Ale, Minister of Finances and Prices, confirmed that the government's measures are aimed at rectifying a group of distortions that are present in the economy. To create conditions to revive the economy and influence the correction of these situations, he pointed out.
He also said that a part of these decisions are related to prices, since some of them have become outdated in products that are transversal to the entire economy, related to energy itself, fuels, electricity generation and fundamental consumption. of the population, he noted.
Reguero Ale said that by rectifying these prices, some are expressed in a reduction of the subsidy from the State budget. This is planned in the State budget and that is why these measures are monitored.
He stressed that these provisions will be applied progressively, so they will be subject to constant evaluation to know the impacts on both the economy and the population.
At the same time, measures have been designed to mitigate these impacts with protections, treatments for people or nuclei that are in vulnerable situations, but with specific treatments and not as a general subsidy, he warned.
He also highlighted that the measures announced by the government should not be seen in isolation, since we know that it is the beginning of others that are part of a program aimed at reviving the economy under the current situation, taking into account our own resources and our own limitations.
He recalled that many state companies, which are the basis of our development, are registering losses due to many decisions to centralize prices with the aim of not transferring them to the entire economy. But it's time to update. Many of these prices are outdated, including many import prices such as fuel prices that have responded to a growth dynamic and this has not been equally reflected in our economy, he said.
In this sense, the Minister of Finance and Prices commented that companies are not reflecting the costs and expenses of fuel consumption and electricity itself, while some services that the population receives such as liquefied gas are not reflecting all of those. costs.
The company that provides these services universally does not see its costs and expenses reflected and these workers are affected by returns that are not realized. This must begin to be corrected progressively.
What was the behavior of electricity generation and consumption in 2023?
Commenting on the measures concerning electricity and fuels, Vicente La O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines, said that the year 2023 was characterized by better electrical service, taking 2022 as a reference. This does not mean that it was completely resolved. Last year the service was 70 percent better than the previous one, since blackouts were reduced in time and power by 70 percent as we said.
However, La O Levy commented that 2023 was characterized by greater consumption, as well as maximum demand.
In his opinion, among the reasons that motivated these increases are the fact of serving a greater amount of energy. The other reason was related to the temperatures and those heats that we had in the summer, where several records were broken. On July 24, 64.5 GigaWatt/h was reached, which is a historical record for electricity in Cuba.
Added to this are the electric motors that already reach half a million units, most of which are charged from the electrical system and not from renewable energy sources because we do not yet have those possibilities.
However, this growth could be served by several actions, said the minister. Among them, the recovery of Mariel unit 6 after its fire stands out. More than 300 MW were recovered at the Mariel and Moa distributed generation sites that were at zero; The policy of providing maintenance and not working against breakdowns was maintained and that increased power.
He also mentioned the drilling of new wells for the extraction of liquefied gas paid to Energás, breaking the production records of this unit with almost 400 MW/h during peak hours.
In the second semester, based on the increase in demand that occurred in the summer, savings measures were implemented to be able to meet the demand. A very strong advertising campaign was carried out and instruction number three that regulates the issue of savings was put into practice. A result of that is what we see today in the winter, where the large peaks of maximum demand have been reduced.
These are saving measures that are monitored daily by inspectors, as well as turning off the air during peak hours, controlling lighting and ovens, which has allowed demand to be lowered and the entire load to be served these days.
In his speech, the Minister of Energy and Mines referred to electrical fraud, recognizing that it has several avenues. It must be recognized that there is a deficit of meter meters for which we already have financing and are already being acquired; both for 220V customers and for those of 110 that have it broken. Some clients, based on the agreement made with the electricity company, consumed more because they did not have meters, he said.
The other thing is fraud from manipulating the subway, diverting the circuit from the house or taking a direct connection outside the subway. We are fighting against that, hard. We are going for 226 thousand frauds detected in the last period and we know that fraud is being committed because we are reading it in the difference between the energy that is generated and the energy that is charged. There are the commercial losses, but the difference is that they are being stolen from us. What they are stealing from us is almost what Guiteras generates, he warned.
Why is the electricity rate increased for high consumers?
In the case of electricity, the measure is aimed at savings, stated the Minister of Energy and Mines at the Round Table.
He explained that in Cuba the residential sector represents 61 percent of Electric Energy consumption and 39 percent of the non-residential sector. We have endured this non-residential sector due to the savings restrictions that are directed towards that sector, both fuel and electrical energy.
He reported that the residential sector is made up of 4 million 78 thousand 909 clients, with average consumption being 174kWh.
What we have proposed of increasing the electricity rate by 25 percent for those consumers who are above 500 kWh is very far from the average consumption of the country. Last year, which was characterized by consumption much higher than previous years, 107,570 customers had consumption above 500kWh, 2.7 percent of the total.
He added that there is a perception especially here in Havana that everyone consumes more than 500kWh; but there are no mistakes here, this is what our clients pay. In July and August this figure grows to 217 thousand clients. (5.4 percent of the country's total clients).”
However, these 5.4 percent of clients represent 17 percent of consumption in the residential sector, he clarified.
It is not to harm anyone, we know that we have reserves to achieve savings in our homes, that without reducing the standard of living we can adjust to 500kWh or be very close to it. There are clients who go over 500kWh in July and August, but then not in the rest of the year.
A consumer who spends 600 kWh a month today with current prices has to pay two thousand 451 pesos, and with the new rate, two thousand 681 pesos. There would be an increase of 230 pesos, but it means a 9.4 percent growth, because 25 percent is applied to kWh that are above 500.
When it is 700kWh, today you would pay three thousand 396 pesos; With the new rate it would be three thousand 862 pesos, with an increase of 13 percent. For a consumer of 1800kWh, its cost increases by 22 percent. It currently pays 14,901, while in the future it would pay 18,355 pesos.”
He confirmed that the purpose of this measure is to stimulate savings, and not eliminate subsidies. The electricity rate will continue to be subsidized, even with the increases in these new rates above 500kWh. The electricity rate continues to be subsidized, there is the cost of fuel, maintenance of power plants, electronic groups, networks, substations.
Situation with fuels in the country
At another point in the television program, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente La O Levy, referred to the situation with fuel in the country, supplies and sales to the population.
He explained that the measure of increasing the price of fuel has different objectives than those explained above, although savings are also sought. In 2021, Cuba imported 126 thousand tons of gasoline, in 2022 about 192 thousand tons, and in 2023 about 203 thousand tons. Cuba's consumption demands about 360 thousand tons of gasoline. So you can see that we are far below the needs and that is why the situation we have is given by the shortage of financing and the impact of the blockade as the main reason for this.
The enemy has blocked our access to fuel and there is no doubt about that, La O Levy emphasized.
Regarding diesel, something different happens, he said, arguing - as he has explained on other occasions - that the country had traditional sources to acquire fuels that have been lost, negotiations that were prevented by the blockade, and this has caused a much more tense situation. in recent years.
A relentless persecution of fuel, ships, voyages, partners, allies has been applied day after day.
La O Levy explained that diesel has had a different behavior, its import has been reduced and this is felt in the economy. Diesel is consumed most in the economy, unlike gasoline, which is consumed mostly in the private sector.
He illustrated that of the 21,700 tons of gasoline that are consumed on average in a month in 2023, 15,200 tons are consumed by the private sector. That is equivalent to 71.5 percent of gasoline consumption in the private sector.
Diesel goes to the economy, it goes to the sugar harvest, agriculture, and electricity generation itself, which is a high consumer of this fuel. I dare say that we did not exceed the 70 percent reduction in the effects on the electrical service due, fundamentally, to the fuel issue.
The minister explained that Cuba requires 1.8 billion dollars to cover diesel needs in one year. In 2023, 609 thousand tons of diesel could be imported, which is about 600 million dollars (a third) and it shows. The same thing happened with gasoline.
Now, what was the situation with fuel sales? La O Levy said that they are very similar to imports. In 2020, 214 thousand tons of gasoline were sold, in 2021 about 246 thousand tons, in 2022 about 335 thousand tons, and in 2023 the figure had to be decreased and adjusted. Last year we removed 700 tons of gasoline daily. (Text and photo: Cubadebate)
