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Electricity, gas, water and transportation: a family in AMBA needs to spend $141,543 in September to pay the rates - Infobae
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Luz, gas, agua y transporte: una familia del AMBA necesita gastar en septiembre $141.543 para pagar las tarifas
El costo conjunto de los servicios públicos para un hogar que no recibe subsidios saltó 370% desde diciembre. Los usuarios solo abonan el 50% del “costo real” a pesar de los aumentos, y el resto es subsidios
www.infobae.com
Septiembre 20, 2024
The combined cost of utilities for a household not receiving subsidies has jumped 370% since December. Users only pay 50% of the “real cost” despite the increases, and the rest is subsidies.
By Augustin Maza
Spending on services fell slightly in September thanks to lower energy consumption due to the end of winter (Illustrative Image Infobae)
The average household's basket of public services in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) without subsidies reached $141,543 in September, which implies a 2% monthly decrease due to lower energy consumption due to better temperatures, but an increase of 370% compared to December.
This is evident from a report by the Observatory of Rates and Subsidies of the Interdisciplinary Institute of Political Economy , IIEP , (UBA-CONICET) in which it was also highlighted that households pay on average 50% of the "real" price of the bills and the remaining balance is covered by government subsidies, although unevenly among users.
For services, the average electricity rate is $32,202; natural gas , $28,342; water , $24,762; and transportation expenses , $56,228 per month.
Interdisciplinary Institute of Political Economy (IIEP)
The overall expenditure fell by 2% compared to August due to two factors, according to the IIEP: 1) lower consumption of electricity and gas, which began to decline once the winter seasonal peak had passed, while the tariff tables were slightly modified – electricity increased by 3.8% and natural gas by 2.6% on average – and 2) due to increases in the tariff tables for water and, in particular, public transport.
In AMBA households, utility rates cover, on average, 50% of costs, and the State therefore covers the remaining 50% through subsidies, the highest level in the last 10 months. However, coverage levels are not equal across all segments.
In the case of energy bills, for users classified as high-income (Level 1) the ratio is 90% tariff and 10% subsidies; for low-income users (Level 2) it is 25% and 75%, respectively, while for middle-income users (Level 3) it is 40% and 60%. On average, electricity and gas bills cover 48% of the real price of the service.
Interdisciplinary Institute of Political Economy (IIEP)
“The tariff coverage of public service costs is higher than that observed in the last ten months and is trending upwards due to increases in all services. In turn, it is 9 points higher than the average of the last ten months (41%). Going forward, this trend will be consolidated based on the fall in seasonal energy costs,” the IIEP highlighted.
Compared to December 2023, the cost of the total basket of public services surveyed by the IIEP increased by 370% as a result of the updates to transportation rates (January, February and August), electricity (February, June, August and September), natural gas (April, June, August and September) and water (April, July, August and September).
“Natural gas and electricity consumption are adjusted for seasonality of consumption,” the report said.
Interdisciplinary Institute of Political Economy (IIEP)
In the breakdown by service, it is observed that the most significant increase was in the natural gas bill with an increase of 898% compared to December 2023, due to both tariff increases and increases in winter seasonal consumption. Spending on electricity increased 156% while public services that do not depend on seasonal factors show an increase of 601% for transportation and 271% for water.
The AMBA public services basket for September represents 13.2% of the estimated average registered salary for the month, while the proportional weight of spending on transportation reaches 40% and is significantly higher than the remaining services.
Consumers have also faced sharp increases in utility rates for electricity, gas and water so far this year, both in the AMBA and in the rest of the country. Since Javier Milei took office, there are 852,677 more households that receive electricity subsidies and, of those, 111,114 also receive natural gas subsidies, as published by Infobae based on official information to which it had exclusive access . The provinces in which the number of beneficiaries grew the most are those in which poverty rose the most: Corrientes, Formosa, Catamarca, Chaco and Córdoba.
