August 7, 2024

 

Is it possible to “escape” the increase in electricity rates planned for this year? First, we have to understand that the increases in electricity bills that we are experiencing are the result of something that we have avoided for the last five years in Chile. Let us remember that, when the social outbreak occurred, rates were frozen in a scenario where the dollar was rising; then the pandemic arrived and then the war in Ukraine. If we look at other places in the world, we can see that everywhere there has been an increase in electricity bills, which did not happen here.
That is why this increase, although painful, is extremely necessary for the industry, since almost six billion dollars in customer debt had accumulated, because prices had not been raised in the last five years. A debt had been accumulating that, if we do not face it, we run the risk of mortgaging the future of the electricity sector.

This does not mean that the State does not have to make the commitment to help the most vulnerable families and SMEs to overcome the difficulties that may be caused by rising electricity bills. Will electricity rates continue to rise? A few years ago, it was heard that with the greater presence of renewable energies, rates would tend to fall… Understanding the magnitude of the debt, it is understandable that the rise we are experiencing is temporary, but over time it should stabilize again at current levels, as long as the dollar does not shoot up again. If we manage to overcome this initial setback, rates should begin to decline from 2025 or 2026. That is why we will not immediately see the reductions that renewable energies can bring us, because we must pay off the debt, which could be projected for 2030.
In any case, these have been a key agent so that the increases in the bills are not higher and it is, finally, thanks to the arrival of solar and wind energy that we will be able to pay off the debt more quickly.

Claudio Seebach, UAI “Chile is always in the records of renewable energy generation, and this is not so much due to geographical factors of the country, but rather the contract structure and confidence in investment have been much more important.” Without renewable energies, we would be in a much more complex situation.
Therefore, we must be grateful that Chile has had very successful experiences in contracts to bring in renewable energies. Is it necessary to think about new electrical regulation? As a country, we receive energy from distributors and, since 2006, they have used a long-term supply bidding mechanism. This mechanism has been the basis for the success of the energy transition, and has allowed companies to finance themselves, initiate investments and provide us with electricity.
I mention this because Chile is always in the records of renewable energy generation, and this is not so much due to geographical factors of the country, but rather the contract structure and confidence in investment have been much more important. As the industry is currently developing, it will allow the old, more expensive contracts to be extinguished and new, cheaper contracts to be entered into.

In this sense, one of the virtues that we have as a country is the confidence that exists in its contract system. What challenges does the electricity sector face in its evolution towards a more sustainable matrix? Today, the greatest challenge that we face as an electricity sector is to create a A profound reform of the distribution of electricity, to the last mile that reaches homes, in order to, on the one hand, improve the quality of service, so that the transition towards greater uses of electricity really implies, and which are also experiencing an increase in costs at this time, also implies a better quality of service. It is simple that the power is not cut off with the frequency that occurs today and that is far from the standards of developed countries. Secondly, we require that there be an improvement in the quality of service, which implies a total digitalization of the network.

Uruguay, for example, which began the process about four or five years ago, has already reached 100% of its digital network, being able to know at any time which home is or is not with electricity service, in addition to other services from digital mediators.

The second has to do with facilitating greater distributed energy resources, so that we can take better advantage of the enormous solar wealth that falls on homes and be able to advance more decisively in solar roofs, but also in heating and electric air conditioning technologies, such as split inverter heat pumps for the production of hot water or heating, as well as distributed storage and especially the greater demand for charging points for electric vehicles, which will continue to grow in the coming years and for which we have that we must prepare ourselves.

Finally, it could be thought that a What is the role of the Engineer in our current society? Engineering and Science are called to be a driving force of greater well-being and more sustainable development in Chile and the world, and in that sense the engineer and his role have increasingly changed to a need to incorporate a broader view, that is why it is so fundamental and so differentiating that the educational model of the Adolfo Ibáñez University incorporates not only training in exact sciences, basic for engineers and a professional specialization in engineering, but also the incorporation of a view of the liberal arts, together with work and study with people who are trained in other professions, in law, in psychology, in design.

In this sense, we believe it is essential that the engineer of the future, an engineer for today’s society, must have a greater capacity for innovation, a greater capacity for entrepreneurship, in business ventures to create wealth, as well as social ventures to create public value, he must have a capacity for collaboration and fulfill a role where the engineer can contribute with the scientific, technological base, methodological innovation based on a scientific method contributing new ideas; it is essential that the engineer be at the service of greater well-being and a greater impact on the economic, social and environmental aspects for sustainable development.

“The greatest challenge we face as an electrical sector is to make a profound reform to the distribution of electrical energy, to the last mile that reaches homes” long-term reform to distribution will also allow users to access more flexible rates depending on the schedules and thus have more diversity of options. What recommendations would you make to readers to reduce expenses associated with electricity? Domestic measures can always be taken to help mitigate increases in electricity bills. During this winter, the most important thing would be to pay attention to how to heat our home. We must bear in mind that a little more than 50% of the energy in a home is used for this. Therefore, the first thing is not to neglect the insulation in the house, especially in the roof, doors and windows. Likewise, when we use electrical appliances for air conditioning, we must avoid at all costs the use of fan heaters, which work with electrical resistors, since they are extremely inefficient. These appliances transform a unit of energy into a unit of heat, consuming a lot of electrical energy. In this sense, if the investment can be made, a clean and efficient option is split heating equipment, air conditioning equipment that, with one unit of energy, creates up to six units of heat.