Avaliação de impacto do programa tarifa social de energia elétrica

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the impact of the Social Tariff on the Electricity Program in Brazil. It starts with a bibliography review on the literature on energy poverty, to understand the energy needs in contemporaneity and build the debate on public policies of financial support for access to energy services. The construction of these policies is complex and multidimensional, related to different economic and non-economic factors. In this sense, to qualify the dialogue for the Brazilian issue, the study begins with a descriptive analysis of eligible and non-eligible households for the TSEE based on data from the Family Budget Survey (POF 2017/2018) of the IBGE. Then, the effect of program eligibility is estimated using the Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) method. The results suggest that current eligibility criteria capture households with lower purchasing power, larger families, and less access to public services. In addition, eligibility for the discount reduces energy expenditure and consumption in kWh, with heterogeneous effects that come from households headed by self-declared black individuals and by households in the third discount band, from 101 kWh to 220 kWh. However, there is no significant effect on the proportion of energy expenditure on income, which indicates that the program has limited results from an energy poverty perspective.