Bolivia guarantees subsidized electricity and gas for industries

This statement from the Bolivian Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energies was translated from Spanish by an automated system

UCOM-MHE-09-02-2023.- The national government guarantees the supply of subsidized electricity and gas for the productive processes of the industries through Supreme Decree No. 4794, within the framework of the energy transition policy, reported this Thursday Ronald Veizaga, spokesman for the electricity sector of the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy.

“Entrepreneurs are subsidized like nowhere else. They talk about competitiveness, they talk about giving the State its shoulder, but the State has been giving them its shoulder every day with subsidized fuel, electricity and gas,” Veizaga said.

The spokesperson added that Bolivia has the lowest electricity rate of neighboring countries and that, in particular, the industrial sector in Santa Cruz —for example— has a rate that is lower than the residential category.

"To dialogue, there is no need to lie, so far no company has made its production costs transparent and it is impossible for a single input to represent 40% of the production cost of an industry, unless it is a company that is dedicated to selling electricity Veizaga said.

Likewise, it is estimated that there are more than 100 companies that self-generate electricity with illegal gas connections "and that cannot be allowed," he added.

On the other hand, the spokesman explained that the Government never closed the doors of dialogue, "those who did not do their homework were the industrial sector by not sending technical information on their operating costs, gas consumption to generate electricity, or continuing with the tables of work".

Bolivia, like the entire world, points to the energy transition to replace fossil sources with renewable and environmentally friendly energy. In this sense, Veizaga clarified that Supreme Decree No. 4794 seeks to reduce gas consumption in electricity generation so that industries can take advantage of electricity from the National Interconnected System (SIN), which uses gas more efficiently and incorporates renewable sources.

"Nowhere in the decree or in the regulation does it mention that the gas that they will stop using for self-generation electricity will be destined for export," he said.

Veizaga noted that so far no company has shown that the volume of gas supply for their production processes has been lowered, therefore, he called for greater responsibility from the industrial sector and urged them not to misinform the population.