Consumers unlikely to face power rate hikes

Consumers need not worry about a short-term hike in their power bills, Luiz Pinguelli Rosa, president of Brazil's federally-run power sector holding company Eletrobras, told the Wednesday edition of daily O Estado de S. Paulo. A rise in the power rates for them "is completely ruled out," the official said. Meanwhile, the government is studying a "realignment" of power rates in the industrial sector. According to Rosa, in some "electricity-intensive" industries the price paid for power is "inadequate." He mentioned aluminum smelters but no other sectors. by Ana Mano