The ANDE Workers’ Union (Sitrande) announced plans to step up protests against Santiago Peña’s government energy plan and is demanding guarantees that bills to create a Ministry of Energy, Mining and Hydrocarbons and an Energy Regulatory Authority (ERE) will not be sent to Congress later this year.
Adolfo Villalba, the union’s secretary-general, said the mobilization would continue because a meeting with the government held on Friday ended without progress. The official proposal was to create a dialogue forum in exchange for suspending the protests, but the union rejected it. The organization says the initiatives could reduce the autonomy of the National Electricity Administration (ANDE), Paraguay’s state electricity utility responsible for generating, transmitting and distributing electricity.
The government has not yet presented, in the materials analyzed, an approved legislative text that would confirm the institutional effects the union attributes to the ERE. Therefore, claims that the change would open the way for private businesses or favor foreign investors remain Villalba’s position, rather than established facts.
The dispute is taking place alongside negotiations over the Itaipú tariff and the operating agreement that defines how Paraguay uses its share of the energy. Under Annex C of the Itaipú Treaty, each country is entitled to 50% of the generation; energy not used by one party must be ceded to the other country under preferential conditions. For Pedro Ferreira, a former president of ANDE, the priority should be to ensure that Paraguay withdraws its share, rather than focusing the debate on a medium-term tariff.
The Paraguayan government, however, supports a tariff above production costs to maintain funds for public works, social programs and development projects. Justo Zacarías Irún, Paraguay’s director at Itaipú, said the intention was to establish a scheme for three to five years starting in 2027. The reported production cost is US$19.28 per kW/month, while a tariff of US$15 has been identified as a possibility supported by Brazil, although Zacarías denied that a formal proposal for that amount exists.
The current provisional tariff agreement ends on January 1, 2027. Formal talks are expected to gain momentum after Brazil’s general election and Paraguay’s municipal elections, with a possible decision in November, according to Zacarías’s forecast. The current tariff has provided Paraguay with estimated additional funds of US$1.25 billion a year.
Ferreira criticized the lack of debate over how that money would be allocated and warned of the risk of discretionary use during an election period. He advocated investment in frequency converters, solar panels and completion of the 500 kV transmission line between Yguazú and Valenzuela. Villalba also said priority should be given to the Summer Plan, ANDE’s investment program and reinforcement of the electricity infrastructure.
The union announced that it would seek support from social and peasant organizations and other unions for a demonstration in downtown Asunción that could draw between 10,000 and 20,000 people. Despite the escalating conflict, Villalba said on-call teams would continue working to preserve the electricity supply.