Opinion article by Mayara Miquidade - Trainee lawyer at CGA

The Regulatory Fee for the Energy Sector that was introduced is one of the sources of revenue for the Energy Regulatory Authority ("ARENE"), in accordance with Article 18(2)(b) of Law 11/2017 of September 8. Decree no. 81/2022 of December 30, which came into force on December 30, 2022, set the amount of this fee and established the procedures for its settlement and collection.

This tax applies to regulated entities that carry out the (i) production, transportation, distribution and marketing of electricity from any energy source, (ii) production, storage, distribution, marketing and transportation of petroleum products (downstream (iii) distribution and marketing of natural gas, at a pressure equal to or less than 16 bar(iv) production, distribution and marketing of other forms of energy.

The regulatory fee does not apply to (i) supply activities for energy access in off-grid areas through mini-grids of up to 10 MW and (ii) energy services.

The fee is set at 1.75% of the regulated entities' annual sales revenue, as shown in the income statement and audited financial statements for the previous period, and the fee will be collected by ARENE in quarterly installments by the fifteenth day of the month following the quarter.

To ensure proper monitoring, the regulated entity must send a signed declaration, on a model provided by ARENE, indicating in particular the amount of the fee paid and the value of the annual sales revenue used to calculate the fee, by September 15th of each year.

In the case of late payments, in addition to enforced collection, regulated entities are also subject to fines. For delays of up to 30 days from the due date, a fine of 0.5% is applied and for any delays of more than 30 days, statutory interest rates are applied.

Please note that any amounts overpaid may be refunded subject to a reasoned request to ARENE.

Lastly, the question of how the economic and financial equilibrium of the projects whose Concession Contracts and electricity purchase and sale contracts (signed in particular with EDM), which have already been signed and whose financing has already been closed, will be guaranteed, based on a financial model that did not include the amount of the regulatory fee that has now been approved, remains unresolved.