On March 8, 2023, Resolution No. 13 of the Ministry of Energy was published, naming the CCGEs based on the reports submitted by the companies during 2022.
In order to raise awareness about indiscriminate energy consumption, climate change and help create more sustainable societies, the “World Energy Efficiency Day” is commemorated every year on March 5.1
Energy efficiency is generally considered to be one of the least costly ways to meet the demands for energy services while addressing the challenges of climate change.
In 2021, Chile approved Law N° 21,305 on Energy Efficiency (“LEE“, for its acronym in Spanish)2 whereby the preparation of a National Energy Efficiency Plan every 5 years was determined, which contemplates a goal of reducing energy intensity by at least 10% by 2023 compared to the year 2019.3 Together with the minimum efficiency standards in construction, transportation, smart cities, and education, among others, it is expected to generate 7% energy savings with respect to final consumption by 2035, which translates into a reduction in emissions of 6.8 million tons of CO2 by 2035.4
In 2022, the Regulation on Energy Management of Consumers with Energy Management Capacity and Public Organizations, as referred to in Articles 2 and 5 of the LEE (“Regulation“)5-6 under which companies that meet the criteria established in the Exempt Decree N° 163 to determine the companies that must annually report their energy information, as provided for in Article 2 of the LEE (“Decree 163”),7 or that exceed 50 Tera-calories per year, called Consumers with Energy Management Capacity (“CCGE“, for its acronym in Spanish), must report their energy consumption to the Ministry of Energy, which will subsequently publish a resolution listing all CCGEs.
In order to determine the companies that must report their energy information annually, the Ministry of Energy in Decree 163 establishes the following guidelines.
Reportable companies are those that meet all of the following requirements:
- Companies by RUT number whose annual revenues from sales and services and other business activities are greater than 1,000,000 UF8 SC1 per year in the last calendar year.
- Companies by RUT number that have hired 200 or more workers.
- Companies by RUT number that have activities in force by April of the preceding year.
- Companies by RUT number whose taxpayer classification is “Commercial Legal Entity” or “Foreign Companies”, excluding from these requirements the State companies created by law and those companies in which the State has a shareholding of more than 50% or a majority in the board of directors.
In addition, the second paragraph of Article 2 of the LEE provides that: “(…) all those companies that have had during the previous calendar year a total energy consumption for final use equal to or greater than 50 tera-calories must report annually to the Ministry of Energy their consumption for energy use and their energy intensity for the previous calendar year”. In other words, companies that exceed 50 Tcal according to the sum of the energy consumed under all their operating plants or branches, must comply with the report, despite not being under the four copulative criteria indicated in Decree 163.
CCGE companies are required to report their energy consumption and to have and implement an Energy Management System (“SGE“, for its acronym in Spanish). The SGE combines elements that interact to establish an energy policy and objectives. Its minimum requirements are found in the ISO 50001 Standard and they consist of an energy policy, objectives, goals, targets, indicators, measurements and verification plans for the improvements to be established, as well as ensuring that at least 80% of the energy consumption of the CCGE is covered.
With this information submitted by the companies, the Ministry of Energy will publish annually, no later than December 31 of each year, a public report on the SGE in Chile, which will indicate the energy consumption by subsectors, comparisons of energy performance improvement, main energy uses by productive sector. The report will include information on the progress and projections of energy consumption and energy efficiency, good practices and success cases, as well as the classification of companies according to criteria such as region, economic activity, size of the company according to its invoicing, level of energy consumption, level of energy performance and its improvements, safeguarding at all times the confidentiality of the information to be published.
In this regard, on January 23, 2023, the Ministry of Energy, through Ordinary Letter N° 88/2023, informed the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels a list of companies that did not comply with the obligation set forth in the third paragraph of the second transitory article of the LEE, for the reporting process of 2022. These companies should have complied with the submission of the information within 3 months from the publication of the Regulation in Diario Oficial, that is, until December 13, 2022.9
The beginning of reporting for the current 2023 process started last January 3, it is expected to receive all the energy reports for 2022 from the companies qualified as CCGE. This deadline ends on May 10, when the Ministry of Energy will start the review of the CCGEs that must comply with the implementation of the Energy Management System
1 Available information at: https://www.gob.cl/noticias/eficiencia-energetica-en-su-dia-mundial-siga-los-siguientes-consejos-para-un-uso-consciente-de-los-aparatos-electronicos/
2 Available information at: https://www.prieto.cl/se-publica-la-ley-sobre-eficiencia-energetica/
3 Energy Efficiency Plan 2022-2026 available at: https://energia.gob.cl/sites/default/files/documentos/plan_nacional_de_eficiencia_energetica_2022-2026.pdf
4 Available information at: https://energia.gob.cl/noticias/los-rios/celebran-semana-de-la-eficiencia-energetica-con-visita-innovador-estacionamiento-solar-en-la-union
5 Full text of the Regulation available at: https://energia.gob.cl/sites/default/files/dec_28_2021_0.pdf
6 The issuance of these regulations was preceded by a public consultation process developed during the year 2021. Further information available at: https://www.prieto.cl/ley-de-eficiencia-energetica-se-abre-consulta-publica-sobre-criterios-para-determinar-las-empresas-que-deberan-entregar-informacion-acerca-de-sus-consumos-de-energia/
7 Further information is available at: https://www.prieto.cl/ministerio-de-energia-publica-decreto-que-establece-los-criterios-para-determinar-las-empresas-que-deberan-entregar-su-informacion-energetica/
8 “Unidad de Fomento” is an unit of value which takes account of movements in the consumer price index. 1,000,000 UF are equivalent to USD$41,500,000.00 approximately.
9 Available in: https://energia.gob.cl/sites/default/files/ofi_ord_0088_2023.pdf
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