Lampa: five-year extension of Novaguas water rates

The Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism extended for five years the tariff formulas for the production and distribution of drinking water and the collection and disposal of sewage in the “Valle Grande” sector, in the commune of Lampa, Metropolitan Region, provided by the company Novaguas S.A. The decision is contained in exempt decree No. 20, signed in Santiago on August 17, 2026, and was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,554, on Monday, September 21, 2026, Section I, General Norms, pages 1 and 2 (official reference: CVE 2873274).

The sole article of the decree provides for the extension of the validity period of the tariff formulas used to calculate the maximum prices applicable to the users of the sector, established in supreme decree No. 45, of August 20, 2020, of the same ministry, “for another period of five years starting from April 5, 2027.” The regulation bears the signatures of Minister Daniel Mas Valdés and the Undersecretary of Economy and Small Businesses, Karlfranz Koehler Duncker.

The agreement between the SISS and the company

The extension is based on an agreement signed on December 15, 2025, between the Superintendency of Sanitary Services (SISS) and Novaguas S.A., which was approved by exempt resolution No. 306, of March 5, 2026, of the supervisory body.

The decree details the previous sequence supporting the measure:

• Agreement minutes for the tariff extension of the “Valle Grande” sector, by Novaguas S.A., dated December 15, 2025.
• Publication of the extract of the minutes in the Official Gazette and in legal notices from Cooperativa.cl, both on February 2, 2026.
• Exempt resolution No. 306, of March 5, 2026, from the SISS, which approves the extension for a new five-year period starting from April 5, 2027.

The legal framework of the extension

The measure is supported by decree with force of law No. 70, of 1988, the sanitary services tariff law of the Ministry of Public Works, and its regulation, supreme decree No. 453, of December 12, 1989. It also invokes Law No. 18,902, the organic law of the SISS, article 100 of supreme decree No. 1,199, of 2004, of the Ministry of Public Works, and resolution No. 36, of 2024, of the Comptroller General of the Republic.

According to article 12 of the tariff law, tariff formulas are valid for five years, unless an agreement exists between the provider and the SISS to extend them for another equal period between 14 and 17 months prior to the end of the period. The decree bases this decision on the absence of relevant changes in the assumptions that served as the basis for the calculation of the current formulas.

What it means for the residents of Valle Grande

The extension does not set new rates: it maintains the tariff level established in 2020 and extends its application for five more years, until 2032, for users in the “Valle Grande” sector of Lampa. For residents, the direct effect is the continuity of the current calculation formulas for the maximum prices of drinking water and sewage, without a new tariff process on the immediate horizon.

The publication in the Official Gazette closes the administrative process and provides regulatory certainty to the concessionaire and the sector’s customers, in an essential service where changes in formulas translate directly into monthly bills.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,554, Monday, September 21, 2026, Section I (General Norms), pp. 1-2 (official reference: CVE 2873274).