The Energy Department is already finalizing the details Electricity and gas tariffs rise for 2026, after the public consultation period for the new regime ends this week Targeted Energy Subsidies (SEF).
Meanwhile, the economic team is planning Stop subsidizing gas imports in winter and pass the costs on to users.
This Friday, December 19, is the deadline for citizens and organizations to comment on the new regulation, which will replace the current three-tier tariff segmentation.
As far as electrical energy is concerned, approximately 7,330,000 families across the country who today belong to the population with the highest income and wealth or who do without government help to finance energy You will lose subsidies from January 1, 2026.
To date, these users pay 92% of the real costs of electricity production and 80% of gas production; Starting next month, their rates will reflect 100% of both providers’ wholesale prices.
The same will happen to around 140,000 families in the “Level 3 – middle income” category, who earn the equivalent of between 3 and 3.5 poverty baskets. In total, 45% of the country’s electricity network users remain unsubsidized.
On the other hand, the remaining 55% – approximately 9,100,000 families – who report earning less than $3,771,987 per month per household will be subsidized at half the cost of electricity, up to a maximum of 300 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month in summer and winter or 150 kWh in fall and spring, to which will be added a bonus of 25% starting in January until repealed on December 31st falls.
There will also be changes in the gas sector: the price transferred to the tariffs for contracts between oil companies and traders signed under the gas plan will be uniform at $3.79 per million BTU, at about $2.90 in the summer months and $4.50 in the winter.
Only grants are granted 50% of guaranteed consumption blocks – varies depending on the region of the country – between April and September.
This implies a sharp rise in gas prices next month, reaching double digits, although the government is yet to disclose the exact impact on bills.
At the same time it is a financial advance that gas producing companies like YPF, Total Austral, Tecpetrol, Pan American Energy (PAE), Harbor Energy, Pampa Energía, Pluspetrol and General Fuel Company (CGC)because they earn more in the summer than stipulated in their contracts, but get less in the winter.
The financial advance goes indirectly to the oil companies will make up for the delays that the nation state has had in paying gas subsidies this yearwhich led to liquidity problems for companies while their margins fell due to a fall in international oil prices. And it will allow financing investments to continue gas production in Vaca Muerta.
On the other hand, the government wants to transfer liquefied gas imports to the state in 2026 and commission a marketer to handle the block purchases. In the winter, LNG typically costs around $10 to $12 per million BTU and that cost would be passed on to users, which can hit households at the time of peak consumption.
About The Author
