Decision Support System for Adherence to the White Tariff
Paloma G. de S. Dias, Yago A. Marino, Luis Augusto M. Mendes, Sofia C. de Oliveira,
Elvis M. Nicolau, Iuri S. W. Pereira, Vinicius F. da S. B. Grilo, Lucas T. Pimentel,
Igor L. Queiroz, Arthur M. R. Alves, Rafael J. F. de S
´
a, Glaucia M. N. C. de Oliveira,
Lindolpho O. de A. Junior,
ˆ
Angelo R. de Oliveira and Gabriella C. B. Costa Dalpra
Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG),
Jos
´
e P
´
eres Street 558, Leopoldina - MG, Brazil
Keywords:
Smart Meter, Tariff Modalities, White Tariff.
Abstract:
The existence of different tariff modalities for charging the electricity sector in Brazil, if applied assertively
in the user’s consumption reality, can mitigate the negative effects that energy charges have on everyday life.
Thus, the proposed work deals with the development of an intelligent measurement system for the consumption
of energy by the consumer’s home appliances and he will have access to his pattern of energy use throughout
the day, through a web network and mobile platform. According to the tariff values available by ANEEL
(National Electric Energy Agency), the user will be able to define, based on his consumption history, the
adoption of the conventional tariff or the white tariff. It is important to consider that the white tariff has
differentiated prices at certain times of the day, having its highest rate at peak times. These hours represent
a range of hours in which the highest energy consumption occurs during the day, usually set to three hours
per day and not valid on weekends and holidays. Please note that peak times vary by region. In this way, the
system will act in parallel with the energy concessionaires and will take into account the interests of energy
users.
1 INTRODUCTION
Brazil has a high hydric potential, and this con-
tributes, to a considerable extent, to the fact that the
country’s energy production model is mostly com-
prised of hydroelectric plants. Despite the great en-
ergy potential, it is remarkable that it has one of the
highest electricity tariffs in the world (Bem et al.,
2023).
To understand what is involved in the Brazilian
electricity bill, it can be noted that it is defined by
the purchase of energy, transmission, and distribution
fees, as well as sectorial charges and taxes (ANEEL,
2022a).
In the context of tariff issues, it should be noted
the differences in tariffs charged according to residen-
tial, industrial, commercial, rural, and public power
classes, and their respective subclasses. These classes
are inserted in tariff groups that have specific tariff
modalities. These groups are defined by: Group A,
which consists of consumer units with voltage con-
nection greater than or equal to 2.3 kV or units served
by an underground system with voltage less than 2.3
kV; and Group B, consisting of consumer units with
voltage connection less than 2.3 kV. (ANEEL, 2021).
There is also a group of other accessors, composed
of distributors and generating plants, as presented in
(ANEEL, 2022b).
Focusing in Group B, it has subgroups that include
the residential, rural, and other classes, besides pub-
lic lighting, and its tariff modalities are defined by
Conventional Monomial and White Tariff (ANEEL,
2022b). The conventional tariff consists of a single
value regardless of the time of day, while the White
Tariff is determined by consumption over three peri-
ods of the day: On-Peak, Intermediate, and Off-Peak.
Comparing these rates to the conventional model, the
price in off-peak hours is lower than the conventional
rate values, while in the intermediate and on-peak
hours the prices are higher in (da Silva et al., 2018).
It is worth noting that the White Hourly mode does
not include the low-income residential class and pub-
698
Dias, P., Marino, Y., Mendes, L., C. de Oliveira, S., Nicolau, E., Pereira, I., Grilo, V., Pimentel, L., Queiroz, I., Alves, A., F. de Sá, R., C. de Oliveira, G., A. Junior, L., R. de Oliveira, Â. and
Dalpra, G.
Decision Support System for Adherence to the White Tariff.
DOI: 10.5220/0012039800003467
In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2023) - Volume 1, pages 698-703
ISBN: 978-989-758-648-4; ISSN: 2184-4992
Copyright
c
 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

lic lighting, according to (ANEEL, 2022b).
In this context, it is proposed the development
of a low-cost smart meter, through which the user
will identify their pattern of electricity consump-
tion and will be able to define which tariff modal-
ity to adopt. This product consists of a combina-
tion of hardware, which measures the electrical en-
ergy consumed, stores the information, and sends it
to a database; and software, which gives the user the
power to monitor their consumption in real-time and
visualize, in an intuitive way, the most appropriate tar-
iff modality given their history of energy demand.
In general, the objective of the proposed work is
to build an intelligent meter that can capture the user’s
consumption data, which will be visualized by the en-
ergy consumer, and enable him to define the tariff
mode that applies to his context, based on his con-
sumption pattern. The product to be created will ob-
serve the behavior of each user and indicate whether it
is viable for him to change his energy bill to the White
Tariff or continue with the Conventional Tariff, ac-
cording to the hours of highest and lowest consump-
tion and their respective values in kWh. Each user
will have all the information via Wi-Fi such as ex-
aggerated consumption alerts, suggesting the shutting
off of some equipment, the amount of kWh consumed
in the month, and a comparison to the year and guar-
antee that the White Tariff or the Conventional Tariff
is the most viable. In this way, if the user opts to adopt
the White Tariff, he will limit his consumption to the
hours when the tariff value is lower. This project also
benefits utility companies, considering the reduction
of energy consumption during on-peak hours and mit-
igating overloads in the grid.
Paper organization: Section 2 presents the back-
ground of the proposal, through a brief literature re-
view. Section 3 cites the Research Methodology
adopted to carry out the presented decision support
system. Section 4 details the development phase of
the project. Section 5 presents the preliminary results,
Section 6 discusses the final considerations and pos-
sible future works, followed by the acknowledgments
references.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Considering the tariff scope, the consumer has the
possibility to define which mode to adopt for his
consumption pattern. Technologies such as certain
smart meters can assist the user in this matter. J. P.
Lima (2019) developed an energy measurement sys-
tem linked to the ability to analyze the best tariff mode
that fits the consumption pattern of the low-voltage
user (Lima, 2019). To build the meter, a resistive cir-
cuit and an H11AA1 optocoupler were used for the
voltage measurement, and the STC013 sensor for the
current measurement. The ESP8266 microcontroller
was used to process the data obtained and send the
information to the database via Wi-Fi. Furthermore,
an Android application was built, where the user can
visualize his consumption and obtain a comparison of
it when applying the conventional and hourly white
tariff modalities. It is worth mentioning that the de-
veloped meter has its application open for two-phase
and three-phase systems.
In addition to this theme, F. Brito and D. Dias
developed a system capable of simulating, based on
user consumption, which tariff mode best suits the
context. Such a system is constituted by the single-
phase digital meter PZEM-016, which, from a TTL to
RS-485 converter, communicated with an Esp32 mi-
crocontroller. This has attributes such as Dual Core
and Wi-Fi module, which contributed to the process-
ing of functions simultaneously as well as the ease
of sending data to the cloud. In this way, the energy
measurement data was sent by the Esp32 to the Fire-
base database, where it was stored. For the consumer
to visualize the information, an Android application
was developed, which also generated comparison re-
ports between white and conventional tariffs based on
the consumption of the user (de Souza Dias and Brito,
2021).
3 METHODOLOGY
The White Tariff has three different values throughout
the day. The periods are determined by ANEEL for
each distributor and the energy users that have their
consumption concentrated in the off-peak hours will
benefit from this tariff mode instead of the conven-
tional one (Luciano et al., 2021). Thus, the proposed
system helps the user to understand his consumption
pattern and adhere to the tariff that suits his pattern.
As mentioned, it is understood that there are al-
ready systems that have been developed with the same
purpose. However, it is worth highlighting the differ-
ence between the proposed system and its benefits for
the public to which it is intended. Thus, narrowing
the comparisons to facilitate the analysis, the project
of F. Brito and D. Dias, despite its advantageous ap-
plication, does not have a system to store consump-
tion readings before sending the information to the
database (de Souza Dias and Brito, 2021). The pro-
posed system has this attribute with the intention of
not losing the captured data in case of internet con-
nection failure. Furthermore, the interface proposal
Decision Support System for Adherence to the White Tariff
699

developed is more intuitive for the user, allowing for
a more pleasant experience while using the system.
Therefore, it is understood that user usability is ex-
tremely important. Furthermore, the system presented
by the authors uses the white tariff simulation, and,
for this, the user needs to inform the value of the tar-
iffs in effect. The product in question will provide
data from the distributors based on the values dis-
played by ANEEL. It is worth noting that the system
developed defines on-peak, off-peak, and intermedi-
ate schedules according to the variation presented by
region, according to the distributors, and in agreement
with ANEEL.
Making a comparison with the system of J. P.
Lima, in (Lima, 2019), numerous characteristics are
close to the proposed work, such as the development
of an open meter for two-phase and three-phase sys-
tems; a system that has consumption reading stor-
age to avoid data loss due to internet connection fail-
ures and through which the user does not need to in-
form the tariff values to obtain the invoice simulation.
However, attributes that define the differential of the
product proposed in this work stands out. The me-
ter can make the first connection with software via
Bluetooth so that the consumer can enter his Wi-Fi
user and password, through which the next connec-
tions will be made. In addition, the processor used
presents greater applications within the expected goal
and the interface is, in fact, extremely intuitive and
easy to use.
In this way, considering the objective of the smart
meter and the tariff context in which it will be intro-
duced, it is understood that its insertion in the residen-
tial energy consumer scenario at a low-cost will of-
fer knowledge about tariffs better applied to the con-
sumer’s circumstances and more autonomy to the user
to make decisions related to his consumption. To ful-
fill these purposes, the project was based on the de-
velopment of hardware, software, and the integration
between both.
4 DEVELOPMENT
Regarding the hardware development, the system
modeling was done so that it was possible to visualize
and understand all the functionalities that needed to
be inserted in the expected product. Then, a prototype
was built that was able to perform the measurement
of electric power consumption, store the readings lo-
cally, and send them to a database. The data sens-
ing and processing system considers the accuracy, ef-
ficiency, and low cost that the product aims to achieve.
The design of the meter was elaborated in such a way
that it could be installed in a suitable place for its op-
eration, such as the home’s main switchboard. Its de-
sign was also conceived to be well seen and attractive
to the user.
A schematic of the segments involved in the hard-
ware and the connection to the software is shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 1: Project outline.
The smart meter will be connected to the electrical
grid of the residence and will take readings of electri-
cal current and voltage. This data will be processed by
a microcontroller. As mentioned, the system has data
storage that helps to preserve the data in case of power
failure. The real-time clock ensures the accuracy of
the time in which the readings are taken. Consider-
ing that the white tariff has its value changed depend-
ing on periods of the day, it is important to correctly
record the time of the measurements. In addition, the
hardware and software connection is made via a wire-
less interface.
The hardware circuit was built on a test board and
several tests were made to analyze whether the pro-
totype’s behavior meets the expected goals. Among
these tests, we can cite: the accuracy of the current
and voltage readings on specific loads, the storage of
data in case of internet connection failure, and the re-
action of the system to certain disturbances.
Concerning the software, the consumer has access
to the data through a mobile application and using the
web, platforms developed in a way that is easy to han-
dle and intuitive to use because the usability of the
system is the focus of the development. Visually, the
user monitors the energy consumption by his home
appliances and has access to the billed values of en-
ergy consumed, based on the tariffs determined by the
attending utility and the White Tariff schedules de-
fined by the same in agreement with ANEEL. It is
worth noting that the White Tariff schedule changes
depending on the region, and this factor is considered
by the system.
The use case diagram of the software system is
shown in Figure 2.
As can be seen, the software system is responsi-
ble for keeping and managing the account with user
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Figure 2: Software System Use Cases Diagram.
Figure 3: Web Platform Dashboard.
and hardware data, analyzing the energy consumption
in real-time, and consulting the consumption history
from the hardware connection, as well as comparing
and suggesting the best tariff that applies to the user’s
consumption reality.
Initially, the design and prototyping of the func-
tionalities of the web and mobile platforms were built
in a visually pleasing way and with intuitive opera-
tions for the user. The construction of a logo high-
lights the project’s identity in the context of the elec-
tricity consumer in Brazil. Next, the software system
consists of the development of the web and mobile
platforms, an API (Application Programming Inter-
face), and a relational database. Figure 3 shows the
main dashboard of the web platform
1
and Figure 4
illustrates the visualization of the same dashboard in
the application for mobile devices, allowing the user
to consult his consumption history and understand his
energy profile.
1
The Web Platform can be accessed at this link https:
//www.uainergy.com.br/ (only in Portuguese)
Decision Support System for Adherence to the White Tariff
701

Figure 4: Mobile Platform Dashboard.
The integration with the hardware is done, ini-
tially, by Bluetooth connection. From there, the con-
sumer provides the Wi-Fi user information and pass-
word. The hardware can then send the read data to a
server. With the data available in the cloud, the user
will have access to it in real-time and to the tariffs
best applied to his consumption pattern, through his
application.
5 PRELIMINARY RESULTS
The modeling of the system evolved during the smart
meter’s development, since the prototype’s behavior
when faced with certain problems that needed to be
refined to ensure its efficiency.
Regarding the performance of the project’s hard-
ware, it is highlighted that it met the expected
goal, considering that it successfully measured en-
ergy consumption in tests performed with the proto-
type. These tests were performed with certain loads
and the energy consumption was represented graphi-
cally. Furthermore, it carried out experiments to ana-
lyze the behavior of the system in the face of certain
disturbances such as the lack of internet and problems
with the Wi-Fi connection.
To exemplify, Fig. 5 presents a test measurement
and data submission with the smart meter prototype
graphically.
Figure 5: Prototype testing using a load.
It is possible to observe that the time and con-
sumption (in kWh) are displayed. At the exact mo-
ment when a load is connected to the meter, consump-
tion has shown a significant increase.
As concerns the system software, both the proto-
typing and the construction of the web and mobile
platforms for Android, with the name and visual iden-
tity of the product, were executed and fit satisfactorily
with the desired goal of the project development.
The integration between hardware and software
was also tested and achieved significant results in
terms of application effectiveness and measurement
accuracy.
6 FINAL REMARKS
If we consider that the smart meter uses wi-fi signals
and this is a common signal in the residences, there
is no new signal inserted in the houses. So, there is
no new inconvenient side effect. In addition, consid-
ering the preliminary results presented, the proposal
presented in this work proves to be viable and useful
for its respective target audience. Finally, it is im-
portant to emphasize that the solution proposed aims
to give confidential information to the households. It
means that it will help them to check the electricity
bill.
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In terms of future work, the objective is to finish
the construction of the final product, which includes
the completion of the hardware printed circuit board
and the production of the meter case with the design
already created. In the context of software, the inten-
tion is to expand the use of the mobile platform to iOS
users. It is worth noting that the search for partner-
ships for the possible implementation of the product
in people’s daily lives is of vital importance in ensur-
ing the application of its benefits, as well as the avail-
ability of the proposed product for testing by the end
user.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank to LINCE, CEFET-MG, DEDC, IFES, and
SETEC for financial support.
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