Análise das condições regulatórias e tecnológicas para a implantação do sistema pré-pago de tarifação e faturamento de energia elétrica no Brasil

Abstract

An innovative way to use and put price on electricity efficiently, but little known in Brazil, is through of prepaid charging system. In this new modality, the consumer must make the purchase of electricity credits, in the form of kWh, and then use it. In this process, electronic meters are used for the consumer have be able to check the amount of energy being consumed, inducing greater control over its use. This research aims to analyze the technological and regulatory conditions for the deployment of the prepaid system of electricity billing in Brazil. For that, the study present is applied, it is exploratory, adopting a qualitative approach. The technical procedures used, involve bibliographical and documentary rese-arch, where an analysis of international experience in the use of pre-paid electri-city system is carried out. And, a field research, developed through a semistruc-tured questionnaire applied to specialists. As a result, it was verified that the main motivations for the application of the prepaid system in the Brazilian scenario are related to access to electricity and energy efficiency. With regard to regulatory conditions, it is noted that several important factors are not covered by the current standard, such as a deployment schedule and a training and awareness plan for the target customers. As for the technological aspects, the attributes of the new modality were discussed from the product, process and service approach. In these aspects, it was possible to note that there are some gaps or uncertainties, especially related to the standardization of meter communication technology, and in the management of system operation.