The Light for All Program was created in 2003, during the Lula Administration, by then Minister of Mines and Energy and current President Dilma Rousseff. The objective of the program is to bring electricity to all Brazilians who live in the countryside and still have no access to electricity. The initial goal, which has been fully achieved, was to serve 10 million people.
In fact, the program has far surpassed its initial goal, which was to provide service to 10 million people. In fact it has already far surpassed that goal – there are 15.2 million people that have benefited. However, over these ten years, the government has been finding new communities still lacking in access to electricity – the more distant and more isolated communities. This magnified the initial goal.
It is true that families benefited from the program pay nothing for electricity?
No. In fact, only the installation of the power network is free. Once the energy starts coming to the homes of the families, they begin to pay for their consumption. Lower income families are benefited by the Social Tariff.
If the family benefited from the Light for All is registered in the Single Registry for Social Programs, and has a per capita income of up to half the minimum wage, it can receive a discount on the light bill, ranging from 10% to 65% according to the of the monthly power consumption. To Quilombo and indigenous families that consume less than 50 kWh / month, the discount is 100%.
The government understands that the lack of electricity is an obstacle to social and economic development. As the cost of bringing the wiring in some more distant places is very high if the government does not take responsibility for the cost of installation, of course, these millions of people would still remain without electricity today. To bring electricity to more than 15 million Brazilians living in darkness, the federal government has invested in ten years more than R $ 16 billion over to years.
First, millions of Brazilians improved their standards of living. Moreover, with electric light, the families who live in the country are able to produce more and better quality produce, boosting the local economy. It also increases the consumption of appliances and rural equipment, boosting industry, creating jobs. The arrival of electricity has also significantly improved medical care in remote community health centers, which are now able to afford to maintain, for example, stocks of vaccines. Light enabled evening classes in local public schools. With all this, the benefits of Light for All are shared with the whole country.
No. Before the Light for All, there was the Luz no Campo Program, launched in 2000. Luz no Campo, however, charged the families receiving electric power a connection fee. This meant that very few families could afford to install electric power. With the Light for All Program, the government assumes all expenses of the electrical installation - the family only pays for what it uses.
Like all families that benefit from the Light for All program, indigenous and Quilombeiros do not pay for the cost of installation. In addition, family consumption of up to 50 kWh / month if free because the government grants a full rebate of the tariff. This is because the government believes that the country has a historic debt to the indigenous and Quilombeiro populations who most often do not have the fixed income to be able to afford the cost of electricity.
