Copel collected and forwarded, in 2006, a total amount of R$ 1,479,029. 60 to Children's Pastoral, PROVOPAR, and the School Angel Program. These charities received these donations from our clients through their Copel electricity bills. By transferring the contributions to the institutions, Copel covers costs with logistics, collecting agents, post office and banking fees, except for the CPMT tax.

Copel transfers funds to the Teacher Parents Associations - APMFs of the schools in its power plants, to be applied in a Management Plan that sets annual goals to be achieved. The schools serve the children of the employees who live in power plant facilities and surrounding communities. The maintenance funds of R$ 700,000 in 2006 were divided among 4 APMFs, with the commitment to invest as follows: 10% in construction works, 15% in pedagogical management, 20% in human resources, 10% financial, 15% political management, and 30% in results. A total of 1305 students are assisted by this cooperation agreement, representing 40% of the total annual per capita expenditure practiced by the State Government.

In 2006, Copel encouraged all its employees to participate in the Corporate Volunteering Program EletriCidadania, in effect since 2001. This program offers the possibility to use, spontaneously, part of the working hours (four hours/month) in volunteer work. By encouraging the employee to act, to plant the seed of a culture based on solidarity, on ethics, on equity and respect, Copel contributes to the promotion of social balance and peace for a more sustainable world. In 2006, the Corporate Volunteering Program EletriCidadania reached a total of 730 hours dedicated to volunteer work.

Contributions under the Rouanet Law in 2006 were made to projects duly approved by the Ministry of Culture. Most of these projects were proposed by the Society of Friends of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON), which received R$ 7.1 million.

The Company also sponsored and carried out several actions in the area of charities, such as a donation to the Fund for the Rights of Children and Teenagers (FIA). In 2006, Copel donated a total of R$ 2.1 million (not including contributions by Compagas), making use of tax incentives, to several projects from the FIA, such as the expansion of the Pequeno Príncipe Hospital. These funds were used to add an entire floor to the facility, with approximately 100 new hospital beds and a new neonatal ICU. In recognition of this donation, the biggest ever from a single company, the Hospital created the "Copel Heart" quota.

Copel transformed this practice into a policy. From now on, every year, the Company shall use deductible resources to FIA as much as possible, based on the annual tax estimates, destining said resources to social projects. We invite our partner companies and suppliers to do the same. By joining forces, we can really make the difference for the children and adolescents in our State.

The "Menor Aprendiz Program" is essentially social and aims at offering job opportunities to adolescents, who at some point in their lives got into a conflict with the law, and are serving social-educational measures or had remitted sentences. This program is aimed at adolescents coming from social risk groups and would have no chance of competing in the labor market on equal terms. The main goal is to offer the youngsters access to a professional qualification that will later help them achieve social inclusion, by offering them the conditions to develop their potentialities, awaken in them the sense of responsibility, and encourage them to work.

The program is the result of a cooperation agreement with Instituto de Ação Social do Paraná - IASP, and in 2006 benefited a total of 160 adolescents. In Copel, the partners are the employees who act as mentors of the youngsters.

Within a sustainability framework, it is essential for an energy company to create conditions so that this public service is universally accessible. Copel develops a set of integrated programs jointly with Federal and State Governments.

The "Light for All" Program (Programa Luz para Todos) is a program of the Federal Government whose aim is to bring electric power to all homes and businesses in the rural area that do not yet enjoy this public service, at no costs to the beneficiaries. Through this program, Copel has already connected a total of 26,857 consumers, of which 14,209 in 2006 alone. The goal is to total 32,327 new connections by 2008, however demand is so high that Copel is asking its goal to be increased to 12,000 new connections for 2007.

Through a cooperation agreement between the State Government and the State Housing Agency, the "Legal Light" Program (Programa Luz Legal) seeks to legalize the supply of electric energy to low-income families, living in poor areas, marginal to the urban areas. Copel takes on the construction of the electric network, financing the household connection in 24 installments, free of interest. In 2006, there were 3,352 beneficiaries of the program.

Once the connection is made, benefiting from one of the aforementioned programs, residential low income clients, with single-phase circuits, with a monthly consumption of up to 220 KWh, can benefit from yet another program, namely the Low Income Social Rate (Tarifa Social Baixa Renda) which, depending on the monthly consumption, can reach a discount of up to 65%. By December, 2006, there were 784,477 consumers who benefited from this program, of which 35,000 joined the program in that very year.

Low-income consumers, with a monthly consumption of up to 100 KWh can benefit from the Fraternal Light Program (Programa Luz Fraterna), sponsored by the State Government, who pays the electric bills of these low-income families. By December 2006, there 250,765 beneficiaries, 42,894 of which were rural, and 207,871 urban consumers.

Aiming to serve the Paraná Digital Program, which seeks to bring the benefits of computer and internet to the State's public schools network, 854 km of urban access cable and 164.2 km of cable were added to the main ring (OPGW), significantly increasing Copel's optic fiber network capillarity.

back   top