Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining. At this time, we would like to welcome everyone to Edenor fourth quarter 2021 earnings conference call. We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded and all participants will be in listen-only mode during the presentation.
After the company's remarks are completed, there will be a question-and-answer section through the webcast chat. Before proceeding, let me mention that forward-looking statements are based on the belief and assumptions of Edenor's management and information currently available to the companies.
They involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions because they relate to future events and, therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future.
Investors should understand that general economic conditions, industry conditions and other operating factors could also affect the future results of Edenor and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Now, I'll turn the conference over to Mr. German Ranftl, CFO of Edenor. Thank you..
Start of operations of the new ARA San Juan 160 MVA substation; construction of a 6.6 km of high voltage network of Puerto Nuevo Electroduct – Austria; construction of 1.4 km of high voltage network as part of the high voltage connection of Puesto de Interconexion Martínez Electroduct – Edison Substation; construction of a 2 km of high voltage network as part of the high voltage connection of the ARA San Juan substation.
The investment plan executed in recent years continues to show results that are reflected in a continuous improvement in the quality of services, by reducing the duration and frequency of the outages since 2014, and thus exceeding the regulatory requirements set forth in the last comprehensive tariff review, and even exceeding this year the quality indicators required by the regulator for the end of the tariff period in February 2022.
Services quality standards. Quality standards are measured based on the duration and frequency of the outages using SAIDI and SAIFI indicators. SAIDI refers to the duration of outages and measures the number of outages hours a user experiences per year.
And SAIFI refers to the frequency of outages and measures the number of times a user experiences an outage during a year.
At the closing of the fourth quarter of 2021, SAIDI and SAIFI indicators were 10.7 hours and 4.1 outages per year over the last 12 months, evidencing a 13% and 11% improvement, respectively, compared to the same period of the previous year. In turn, these indicators are 22% and 31% lower than the target value required by the RTI for the end of 2021.
This recovery in services levels is mainly due to the investment plan devised by the company since 2014, the different improvements implemented in the operating processes, and the adoption of technology applied to the grid in terms of operation and management.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, energy losses experienced a decrease of 17% against 18% of the same period of the previous years. Costs associated with these losses remained stable, experiencing a 45% decrease in real terms. This results in ARS 681 million improvements in the real terms.
The works of multidisciplinary teams to develop new solutions to energy losses continues, as well as market discipline actions aiming to reduce them.
Analytical and artificial intelligence tools were used to enhance effectiveness in the routing of inspections, and DIME actions continued with the objective of detecting and normalizing irregular connections, fraud and energy theft.
In addition, during 2021, 413,000 inspections of Tariff 1 residential users were conducted with a 52% efficiency, while for the same period of the previous year 446,000 inspections were conducted with 57% efficiency. This means a 7% fall in inspections and a 5% fall in efficiency.
Moreover, 41,862 Integrated Energy Meters (NYSEARCA:MIDE) were installed during 2021, 13,303 of which were installed during the last quarter. Regarding the recovery of energy, besides the normalization of customers with MIDE meters, clandestine customers and conventional meters were also put back to normal.
Moreover, a new energy balance system was implemented, as well as the development of micro-balances in private neighborhoods. In all cases, a striking rate of recidivism in fraud has been observed.
Finally, regarding the outstanding debt, Edenor is a highly unlevered company with a debt outstanding of $98.1 million in corporate bonds and which maturity is October 2022. This concludes my review on Edenor and I would like to thank you for your support shown by our investors and bondholders and your interest in participating today.
We are now open for questions through our chat. .
We are waiting for the questions in the chat. .
The question is, do you expect any other increases in VAD for the remaining of the year? The answer is yes, we are in the process of negotiating that with the regulatory entity and we are working very close to them to find a solution for that and able to have another increase in our VAD..
So, if there are no further questions, I would like to thank you for joining this conference call. And please keep you and your family safe and healthy and have a nice day. Thank you very much everybody..