ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES IN THE REGULATION OF ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION: INTERNATIONAL EVIDENCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR BRAZIL

This study analyzes the incorporation of environmental variables in regulatory models for electricity distribution and its implications for the measurement of efficiency and the formation of regulatory costs. When exogenous factors are not adequately controlled, environmental differences can be confused with managerial efficiency or inefficiency, underestimating scores in adverse environments or overestimating them under favorable conditions. As these scores support the definition of efficient operating costs, their effects can reach recognized costs, regulatory revenues and tariffs. Based on international experiences, the mechanisms adopted in Norway, Australia, Great Britain, Finland and Colombia are examined, in contrast to the trajectory of ANEEL. The results show that environmental heterogeneity is addressed by adjustments to the model, second-stage corrections or ex post mechanisms. The article systematizes these approaches and offers criteria to improve the regulatory treatment of environmental variables in Brazil, preserving comparability, efficiency, methodological robustness, and transparency in regulation.