Chile will begin technical meetings in the first week of September to modernize the regulation of electricity distribution , with the goal of each group delivering its conclusions during December 2026 , as confirmed by the Undersecretary of Energy, Hugo Briones .
The timetable marks the most concrete step so far in a reform that the government of José Antonio Kast decided to initially focus on electricity distribution and those aspects of transmission directly linked to this segment .
“In Chile, there is no shortage of ideas regarding electricity distribution. The knowledge is there, but 20 years of producing reports have not resulted in bills. We have to correct that,” Briones stated.
The initiative was launched politically on August 19th and will have three technical working groups . The first will focus on service security and supply restoration times ; the second, on service quality and users ; and the third will address competition, new technologies, and their efficient integration into the networks .
This last axis will include issues that are particularly sensitive to the new functioning of the system: integration of distributed energy resources, the operational role of distributors, and the efficient use of transmission-related infrastructure .
The working groups will have technical counterparts from the Ministry of Energy, the National Energy Commission (CNE), the National Electric Coordinator, and the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels (SEC). The Ministry will serve as the technical secretariat, and the process will also have international support and the support of the Infrastructure Policy Council (CPI).
The Government also announced that there will be a public schedule of meetings, minutes and open documents , while the background information will be shared with parliamentarians before the formal submission of the future bill to Congress.
“Each working group will present its conclusions in December,” confirmed Briones, who emphasized that the Executive branch does not intend to start from scratch discussing a diagnosis on which it believes there is already a consensus.
A network designed for a different electrical system
Energy Minister Ximena Rincón focused precisely on the gap between the system for which the regulation was conceived and the one that distributors must manage today.
“We are regulating the 21st century with a standard that predates the Internet. That's how brutal this is,” he stated.
According to the official, the framework that supports the operation of the segment was conceived when Chile did not yet have residential solar panels, electric vehicles, batteries, smart meters or the demand from new industries such as data centers .
The technological shift can already be measured within the distribution network itself. As of June 2026, Chile had 3,711 MW of Small Distributed Generation (PMGD) facilities connected to distribution infrastructure, equivalent to approximately 10% of the total installed capacity of the National Electric System . If small generation facilities connected to other segments are included, the total reaches 4,160 MW , close to 11% of the national grid.
The data illustrates one of the challenges behind the reform: distribution networks have ceased to function solely as the last link responsible for carrying energy from large power plants to consumers and must progressively manage local generation, bidirectional flows, storage, electromobility and new demand profiles .
The diagnosis coincides with the one presented in March by the Committee of Experts for the Review of the Regulatory System of the Electricity Sector. That report concluded that the regulatory model based on an “efficient model company” requires adjustments to incorporate new technologies and adapt to changes in consumption patterns, generation, and climate risks .
“The big numbers of the transition are worthless if they don’t reach people’s homes,” said Rincón, who linked the reform to a concrete demand: that in the event of a failure, “the light returns in hours and not in days.”
Safety, quality and competence
That will be precisely the first pillar of the reform.
The weather events and power outages of recent years have reignited the debate about the resilience of distribution networks and restoration times . In fact, in July, the SEC again instructed distribution companies in the regions between Atacama and Los Lagos to strengthen their contingency plans and increase their crews in anticipation of a frontal system.
The second focus will be on service quality, with an emphasis on measurement, customer information, protection of vulnerable users, and compensation mechanisms .
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“The user shouldn’t have to fight to get what they’re entitled to. Compensation has to be automatic ,” Rincón stated.
The regulatory discussion on quality has, in fact, already begun. In January 2026, the CNE opened a procedure to modify the Technical Standard for Quality of Service for Distribution Systems , particularly regarding the processes of connection and expansion of services.
The third focus will be on competition and the incorporation of new technologies , a point where the Executive intends to discuss everything from the role of distributors to the connection conditions for new users and resources.
For Kast, the goal is for "the network to stop being the bottleneck of development."
The President defined the reform as the next step after Law 21.833, known as Let's Get the Accounts in Order , which came into effect on July 31 and addressed, among other points, the debt associated with the Distribution Added Value (VAD), the continuity of the electricity subsidy and mechanisms aimed at strengthening resilience.
“Organizing the accounts is a first step. The next step is to organize the regulations, that is, to provide the country with modern regulations for electricity distribution,” Kast said.
Changes before the law arrives
The Executive also does not intend to wait for the legislative reform to be completed before introducing modifications.
Briones confirmed that the Ministry has already identified measures that could be implemented administratively while the working groups move forward.
The first step will be to incorporate more flexible tariff options into the ongoing process . The second will be to establish a permanent mechanism for pilot programs and regulatory experimentation . And the third will be to introduce improvements in the timelines and transparency of the connection processes .
“Not everything requires a law,” the undersecretary summarized.
Rincón was even more specific and anticipated that during September the Government will evaluate measures related to peak hour charges , while also intending to open the discussion on the power charge in light of the growth in consumption associated with electromobility and data centers.
The transformation will also have to coexist with an accelerated expansion of technologies that demand flexibility. As of March 2026, Chile already had 2,283 MW and 9,346 MWh of BESS storage systems in operation , while the Coordinator projects closing the year with 5,081 MW and 18,643 MWh .
In addition, nearly 70% of the installed capacity of the National Electric System already corresponds to renewable sources , according to the official balance presented by the Ministry of Energy in the middle of the year.
For the Government, this technological transformation requires that distribution no longer be treated as a passive network.
“We have the diagnosis, we have the method, and today what we simply have to do is have the conviction and act,” Rincón stated.
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