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Setor Elétrico
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Learning path

Cost, tariff and budget

How do sector costs reach the electricity bill and the family budget?

5 steps · 7 entries · body, dataset and date of each number in the step's record

Acronyms: CDE, Energy Development Account; TE and TUSD, Energy Tariff and Distribution System Use Tariff; SIN, National Interconnected System; BPC, Continuous Cash Benefit.

Short answer: the losses that regulation recognizes and the CDE quotas enter the tariff that ANEEL approves (TE and TUSD); the tariff, the month's tariff flag, charges and taxes make up the electricity bill. The Tarifa Social is a discount on the bill, funded by the CDE, and the weight of energy in the budget comes from another source, the POF 2017-2018. The path has five steps; each uses its own source and period, and the path explains the relation, it does not add up the sources.

  1. Step 1 of 5

    Costs that regulation recognizes

    Part of the energy that passes through the grids is not sold. In the tariff review, ANEEL sets for each concession holder the loss percentages that the tariff recognizes. The CDE, the fund for the sector's public policies, is collected mainly through quotas included in the grid use tariffs. The number below is the actual loss at the concession holders, and not the percentage the tariff recognizes.

    The number in the observatory

    Total loss rate in distribution

    14.7%Portuguese onlyda energia injetadaNature of the data: Calculated

    Jan 2025 to Dec 2025 · Distribution concession holders (Brazil)

    Source: ANEEL, SAMP Balanço. Reference up to Dec 2025. Captured on Sep 30, 2026.

    Total measured losses over the reference injected energy, adding up the distribution concession holders in the last complete year. It is the actual loss; the percentage the tariff recognizes is another number (entry Regulatory loss percentage).

    See in the panel: Losses: map of distribution utilities

    Calculated: Deterministic transformation made by Scrutiniums, with a published formula.

    Cost componentThe losses recognized by regulation and the CDE quotas are portions of the tariff: the components with CDE in their code appear within the TUSD and the TE.

    Cost component: the cost of a link becomes a portion of a tariff or a bill, by regulatory rule.

  2. Step 2 of 5

    The approved tariff

    ANEEL publishes the TE and the TUSD for each distribution utility. Together, they cover generated energy, transmission, distribution and sector charges; taxes are charged on top of them.

    The number in the observatory

    Median B1 residential tariff among distribution utilities

    R$ 0.8212/kWhNature of the data: Calculated

    Sep 30, 2026 · distribution utilities with a conventional residential B1 tariff in force

    Source: ANEEL, Tarifas de aplicação das distribuidoras de energia elétrica. Reference up to Sep 30, 2026. Captured on Sep 30, 2026.

    Residential tariff (in the ANEEL dataset: subgroup B1, conventional modality): the median, among distribution utilities with a tariff in force on the date, of the sum of TE and TUSD, without taxes.

    The median is the middle tariff among the 81 distribution utilities: half charge less and half charge more, and each one counts once, whatever the number of consumers. The middle half charges from R$ 0.7598 to R$ 0.9033 per kWh. A consumption of 200 kWh in a month costs R$ 164.24 at the median tariff, without taxes or tariff flag.

    See in the panel: Electricity bill: tariff

    Calculated: Deterministic transformation made by Scrutiniums, with a published formula.

    Cost componentThe tariff flag adds a value per kWh consumed, according to the level triggered in the month.

  3. Step 3 of 5

    The month's tariff flag

    The color defined for the month signals the cost of generation and indicates whether there is a surcharge per kWh consumed, and how much. It does not apply to consumers in isolated systems.

    The number in the observatory

    Tariff flag triggered

    Yellow: R$ 0.01885/kWhNature of the data: Observed

    Sep 2026 · captive consumers of the SIN

    Source: ANEEL, Bandeiras Tarifárias. Reference up to Sep 2026. Captured on Sep 30, 2026.

    The color triggered in the month and the surcharge per kWh it represents.

    See in the panel: Electricity bill: tariff flags

    Observed: Value published directly by the official or primary source.

    Cost componentThe tariff approved by ANEEL (TE and TUSD), the tariff flags, charges and taxes make up the electricity bill.

  4. Step 4 of 5

    The discount for those with lower income

    The Tarifa Social gives a discount on the bill to low-income families and to elderly people or people with disabilities who receive the BPC, funded by the CDE. On bills issued from Jul 5, 2025, the discount is 100% for consumption up to 80 kWh in the month.

    The number in the observatory

    Consumer units with the Tarifa Social

    17,246,524consumer unitsNature of the data: Observed

    May 2025 · Brazil

    Source: ANEEL, SCS: Sistema de Controle de Subvenções e Programas Sociais. Reference up to May 2025. Captured on Sep 30, 2026.

    Consumer units with the discount, in the last month published by ANEEL; it is not a number of families.

    See in the panel: Inclusion: Tarifa Social

    Observed: Value published directly by the official or primary source.

    The month of the number is May 2025, before the bills issued from Jul 5, 2025: the number does not measure the effect of the rule described above.

    Analytical associationThe weight of energy in the budget comes from another source (POF 2017-2018), earlier than the current discount rules: the two numbers sit side by side, without a causal relation.

    Analytical association: the quantities tend to vary together; the association does not prove cause.

  5. Step 5 of 5

    The weight in the budget

    The weight of energy in the budget is the family's spending on energy divided by its total income, in the IBGE Household Budget Survey. The number below is the average of these ratios among the lowest-income families.

    The number in the observatory

    Weight of energy in the budget (POF 2017-2018)

    6.9%Nature of the data: Estimated

    Jul 2017 to Jul 2018 · Brazil, families with total income up to R$ 1,908 (values of Jan 15, 2018)

    Source: IBGE, POF 2017-2018, microdados. Reference up to Jul 2018. Captured on Sep 30, 2026.

    Weighted average of the ratios between spending on energy and total income, among families with total income up to R$ 1,908 (values of Jan 15, 2018).

    See in the panel: Inclusion: weight in the budget

    Estimated: Value obtained by a statistical procedure, with uncertainty.

Try it with hypothetical values

Synthetic exampleHypothetical values, chosen for teaching. They are not observatory data and do not enter any indicator.

From the tariff to the bill and the weight in the budget

Tariff flag of the month

Bill without taxes · synthetic

R$ 120.00

150 kWh × R$ 0.80/kWh.

Weight in the budget · synthetic

8.0%

R$ 120.00 ÷ R$ 1,500. Do not compare with the weight measured by the POF: here the income, the tariff and the tariff flag are hypothetical.

Bar: tariff portion (solid) and tariff flag portion (hatched) in the synthetic bill, no tariff flag.

Teaching simplification. The tariff and the tariff flag surcharges are hypothetical. The bill has no taxes (PIS/Cofins, ICMS and the public lighting contribution are charged on top of the tariff), no availability cost and no Tarifa Social discount. The weight in the budget divides the synthetic bill by the income chosen; in the observatory, the measured weight comes from the POF, not from this calculation.

What this learning path does not allow you to conclude

  • The median tariff among distribution utilities is nobody's bill: the bill depends on the distribution utility, the class, consumption and taxes.
  • Consumer units and bills with a discount are not families served.
  • The weight in the budget comes from the POF 2017-2018 and does not measure the effect of the current Tarifa Social rules or of the tariffs in force.