By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazilian power transmission companies are seeking regulatory recognition of more than 416 million reais in disputed payments from Norte Energia SA, the operator of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant.
The request was reported by Agência iNFRA and is being made before Aneel, Brazil’s electricity regulator, as part of tariff proceedings for the 2026-2027 cycle. The amount refers to a portion of transmission-system usage fees that Belo Monte stopped paying in full over a one-year period after a court ruling allowed charges to be calculated in proportion to the energy effectively delivered to the grid.
The dispute is pending before TRF-1, the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region. A hearing is scheduled for June 1, though people cited by Agência iNFRA said it is unclear whether the case will in fact be heard on that date.
Transmission companies want Aneel to recognize the amounts in tariffs before the court case is concluded. The timing is critical because the annual tariff adjustment for transmission companies is expected in July.
Abrate, the association representing Brazil’s power transmission companies, submitted the request in a letter to the federal attorney’s office attached to Aneel. The group asked for the amounts to be recognized as an adjustment item in the calculation of annual allowed revenue, known as RAP, which forms part of Tust, the transmission-system usage tariff paid by power-sector participants.
In a legal opinion responding to technical questions and Abrate’s letter, the attorney’s office said Aneel should not include the retroactive amounts in RAP, arguing that doing so could burden other users of the transmission system.
“The default currently borne by the transmission companies is, therefore, solely and exclusively attributable to the conduct of NESA [Norte Energia SA], which failed to pay contractually owed amounts based on a free — and mistaken — interpretation of a judicial scenario,” the opinion said.
A person familiar with the discussions at Aneel said recognizing the amounts through tariffs would be harmful to other users of the National Interconnected System, known as SIN, because they would end up paying a debt that does not belong to them.
“The correct outcome is for Norte Energia to pay. They are instrumentalizing the judiciary to carry out a default,” the person said.
The proceeding at Aneel is being handled by Director Gentil Nogueira, who may or may not follow the attorney office’s recommendation. There is still no expected date for the case to be submitted to the regulator’s board.
Tiago Soares, Abrate’s director for economic and financial affairs, told Agência iNFRA that the legal opinion recognizes losses suffered by transmission companies as a result of Norte Energia’s unilateral interpretation.
“At the same time, the situation highlights a relevant regulatory challenge associated with litigation and uncertainty over the allocation of costs arising from this dispute,” Soares said.
According to Soares, if the judiciary upholds a decision favorable to Norte Energia, the costs will be socialized among system users. If the ruling favors the transmission companies, Norte Energia is expected to settle the debt, with the possibility of enforcement of contractual guarantees.
“If the uncertainty remains, Abrate trusts that the regulator will provide the appropriate treatment from a tariff standpoint,” Soares said.
The amount had already been charged to Norte Energia by ONS, Brazil’s power-system operator. In July 2025, ONS asked Caixa Econômica Federal to execute the financial guarantee under the plant’s contract and transfer the funds to creditor transmission companies. The move was suspended after a court decision at TRF-1.
Creditor companies include ISA Energia Brasil (ISAE4), EDP, CPFL Energia (CPFE3), Taesa (TAEE3, TAEE4, TAEE11), Equatorial Energia (EQTL3) and Energisa (ENGI11). Companies that are also shareholders in Norte Energia include Eletrobras, Neoenergia (NEOE3) and Cemig (CMIG3, CMIG4). ISA Energia Brasil trades under ISAE4, Neoenergia under NEOE3, Taesa under TAEE3, TAEE4 and TAEE11, CPFL Energia under CPFE3, Equatorial Energia under EQTL3, Energisa under ENGI11, and Cemig under CMIG3 and CMIG4.
The dispute stems from a lawsuit filed by Norte Energia in 2022. The company asked for the right to have transmission infrastructure available to deliver the full amount of power generated by Belo Monte. It argued that, despite paying contracted amounts, the plant faced generation restrictions because of transmission infrastructure constraints.
Norte Energia sought to pay the charge in proportion to its actual use of the system. The request was rejected in the first instance and later accepted by TRF-1 in July 2024, when the court reviewed the appeal. The court ordered ONS to revise the transmission-system use contract, known as Cust, to adjust charges proportionally to the energy effectively delivered by Belo Monte to SIN.
ONS appealed the ruling and did not complete the calculations. In September 2024, it said Norte Energia had reported that it would begin making partial payments based on its own methodology. People cited by Agência iNFRA said the company’s calculation may have resulted in discounts of as much as 89% in the monthly amount passed on to transmission companies.
Norte Energia told it would not comment on the case.