Table of Contents

We are subject to limitations regarding the amount and use of public sector financing, which couldprevent us from obtaining financing and implanting our investment plan.

Our current budget anticipates capital expenditures for expansion, modernization, research, infrastructure and environmental projects of approximately R$2,928.6 million in 2018. As a state-controlled company, we are subject to Brazilian Central Bank Resolution no. 4,589/2017(Resolução nº 4,589/2017 do Banco Central do Brasil), which defines the limit of exposure and the annual global limit of credit to public sector entities to be observed by financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Brazilian Central Bank. The annual global limit that can be contracted in credit operations, with and without guarantee of the Union, by the bodies and entities of the public sector with the financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Brazilian Central Bank is defined by the National Monetary Council by means of inclusion of an annex to Brazilian Central Bank Resolution no. 4,589/2017, establishing, until the end of each fiscal year, the limit for the following year. The maximum amounts defined for the 2018 financial year are up to R$17.0 billion forUnion guaranteed operations and up to R$7.0 billion for operations without Union guarantee. As a result of these limits, we may have difficulty in obtaining financing from Brazilian and international financial institutions, which could create difficulties in the implementation of our investment plan. Additionally, some of our concession contracts have provisions that limit our permitted level of indebtedness, which could also affect our ability to obtain necessary financing. As a result of these regulations and provisions, our capacity to incur debt from certain sources is limited, which could negatively affect the implementation of our investment plan.

Cyber attacks or breach of security of our data center may result in disruption of our operations or leakage of confidential information of the Company, our customers, third parties or interested parties and may cause financial losses, legal exposures and damage to our reputation.

We are the managers and owners of various confidential information related to our business and operations. In our ordinary course of business, we collect and store personal data of our customers in our data centers.

Despite our security measures, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to (i) attacks by hackers, which can access our safety net and steal our information, paralyze our operations or even cause power outages, or (ii) breaches due to employee error, malfeasance or other disruptions. Any such breach could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. Any such access, disclosure or loss of information could affect our operations and could result in legal claims or proceedings under Brazilian laws that protect the privacy of personal information (among others) and damage our reputation.

If we are unable to conclude our investment program on schedule, the operation and development of our business could be adversely affected.

In 2018, we plan to invest approximately R$743.6 million in our generation and transmission activities (including Baixo Iguaçu HPP, Colíder HPP and SPCs of transmission lines), R$1,051.4 million in wind farms, R$790.0 million in our distribution activities, R$340.2 million in our telecommunications activities and R$3.4 million in others investments. Our ability to complete this investment program depends on multiple factors, including our ability to charge sufficient fees for our services and a variety of regulatory and operational contingencies. There is no assurance that we will have the financial resources to complete our proposed investment program, and our inability to do so may adversely affect the operation and development of our business leading to the imposition of fines levied by ANEEL as well as a reduction in tariff levels.

We are largely dependent upon the economy of the State of Paraná.

Our distribution market for the majority of our sales of electricity is located in the State of Paraná. Although a more competitive market involving possible sales to customers outside Paraná might develop in the future, our business depends and is expected to continue to depend to a very large extent on the economic conditions of Paraná. We cannot assure you that economic conditions in Paraná will be

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favorable to us in the future. The GDP (gross domestic product) of the State of Paraná increased 2.5% in 2017, while Brazil’s GDP increased 1.0% during the same period.

The recessive economic environment of recent years led to the reduction of energy consumption in the State of Paraná and in Brazil as a whole, resulting in leftover energy in the interconnected system, consequently reducing (i) short-term prices and (ii) prices negotiated in the free market. At the same time, prices in the regulated market have risen steadily as a result of supply deficiencies on the part of contracted energy by distributors and high prices in the short-term market in previous years. As a result, consumers consistently migrated into the free market and, therefore, the captive market of distributors suffered a reduction in 2016 and 2017. A reduction in the captive market often leads to distributors selling excess contracted energy in the short-term market. This short-term market is subject to relevant price fluctuations. Whenever the price in the short-term market is lower than the price paid by the distributor in its long-term energy purchase agreement, the sale of energy in the short-term market is made at a loss, which may not be recovered in the future.

Deteriorating economic conditions in the State of Paraná and increasing energy prices may affect both the ability of our distribution costumers to pay amounts they owe us, as well as increase the number of our commercial losses. An increase in our commercial losses or uncollected receivables could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

An increase in electricity prices, as well as poor economic performance in the State of Paraná, would affect the ability of some of our distributions customers to pay amounts owed to us. As of December 31, 2017, our past due receivables with Final Customers were approximately R$565.0 million in the aggregate, or 12.1% of our revenues from electricity sales to Final Customers for the year ended December 31, 2017, and our allowance for doubtful accounts related to these receivables was R$168.2 million. See Note 7 to our audited consolidated financial statements.

In addition, increased prices and a deteriorating economy could result in a greater number of our distribution customers connecting illegally to our distribution grid, which would decrease our revenue from electricity sales to Final Customers. Furthermore, energy we lose to these illegal connections is considered a commercial loss, and we may incur regulatory penalties if our commercial losses exceed certain established regulatory thresholds.

Disruptions in the operation of, or deterioration of the quality of, our services, or those of our subsidiaries, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The operation of complex electricity generation, transmission and distribution systems and networks involves various risks, such as operational setbacks and unexpected interruptions, caused by accidents, breakdown or failure of equipment or processes, performance below expected levels of availability and efficiency of assets, or disasters (such as explosions, fires, natural phenomena, landslides, sabotage, vandalism, and similar events). In addition, operational decisions by authorities responsible for the electricity network, environment matters, operations and other issues affecting the electricity generation, transmission or distribution could have an adverse effect on the performance and profitability of the operations of our generation, transmission and distribution systems. If these issues occurred, our insurance may be insufficient to wholly account for the costs and losses that we may incur as a result of the damages caused to our assets, or due to outages.

Further, the revenues that our subsidiaries generate from establishing, operating and maintaining their facilities are related to the availability of equipment and assets, and to the quality of the services (continuity and service in accordance with levels demanded by regulations). Under the related concession contracts, we and our subsidiaries are subject to: (i) a reduction  of the distributor revenue as a result of the reduction of the so-called “Portion B” allocation in the revenue calculation formula; (ii) a reduction of the Permitted Annual Revenue - APR (Receita Anual Permitida, or RAP), for the transmission companies; (iii) the effects of the Availability Factor (Fator de Disponibilidade, or FID) and the offtake guarantee levels for the generation facilities; and (iv) the application of penalties and payment ofcompensation amounts, depending on the scope, severity and duration of non-availability of the services and equipment. Therefore, outages or stoppages in our generation, transmission and distribution facilities, or in substations or networks, may cause a material adverse effect on our business, financial situation and results of operations.

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Failures in dams under our responsibility may cause serious damages to the affected communities, to our results and to our reputation.

Dams are important infrastructures to our business, accounting for the majority of our energy generation capacity. However, in any dam, there is an intrinsic risk of ruptures caused by different internal or external factors. Therefore, we are subject to the risk of a dam failure that could have repercussions much greater than just the loss of hydroelectric power generation capacity. A dam failure may result in economic, social, regulatory and environmental damages and potential loss of human life in the communities downstream from the dams, which may have a material adverse effect in the image, business, operational results of operations and financial conditions of the Company.

We are exposed to behaviors that are incompatible with our ethical and compliance standards, and we may be unable to prevent, detect or remediate them in time, which may cause material adverse effects in our operational results, financial condition and reputation.

We have a range of internal rules and controls, including a Governance, Risk and Compliance Office, with the aim to guide our managers, employees and third-party contractors, and to reinforce our ethical principles and rules of professional conduct. However, due to the wide distribution and outsourcing of the production chains of our suppliers, we are not able to control all possible irregularities of the latter and we are not able to ensure that our selection processes will be sufficient to avoid that our suppliers have problems related to compliance with applicable law, sustainability or outsourcing of the production chain under inadequate safety conditions.

Furthermore, we are subject to the risk that our employees, contractors or any person that may do business with us may involve themselves in fraudulent activities, corruption or bribery, circumventing our internal controls and procedures, misappropriating our assets or using them for private benefit to the detriment of the Company’s interests. This risk is increased by the fact that our portfolio includes affiliated companies, such as special purpose companies, some of which we do not hold a controlling interest in.

Our systems may not be effective in all circumstances. Any failure in our capacity to prevent or detect noncompliance with the applicable governance rules or regulatory obligations may cause damages to our reputation or other material adverse effects to our results of operation or financial condition.

The rules for electricity trading and market conditions may affect the sale prices of electricity.

Our energy trading business is strongly affected by regulatory changes that impact the methodology used for short term energy price formation.

We perform trading activities through power purchase and sale agreements, mainly in the Free Market,through our generation and trading companies. Agreements in the Free Market may be entered into with other generation and trading entities andmainly withFreeCustomers.

Energy trading is affected by changes in the methodology used to calculate energy prices in the short-term (PLD). PLD is determined by the results of optimization models of operation of the interconnected systems used by the ONS and by CCEE. In such determination, there may be data entry errors or errors in the model, which may lead to an unexpected change of the PLD and possible future republications of the PLD. Thus, there is a risk for the commercial business with respect to the alteration of these models, data entry errors and republishing of the PLD, which may cause market uncertainty, reduction of liquidity, and financial losses with unexpected price variation.Additionally, any change in the energy trading rules related to the increase of restrictions for the entry of new consumers in the Free Marketmay affect the expansion of our energy trading business.

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Our energy trading companies,Copel Comercializacao and Copel GeT, thatoperate in the Free Market may decide, based on market conditions, to operate in long and short positions and may present financial losses for certain periods.To operate in long positionsmeans thatwe buy electricitythat will be delivered to us only in the future andsell it before the deliveryis due, expectingthe pricetogo up in the short-term market.To operate in short positions means thatwe sell electricitythat needs to be delivered only in the future, butbuy it before the deliveryis dueexpectingthe pricetogo down in the short-term market.

Our management has identified material weaknesses in our internal controls and has concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting, with respect to the issues classified as material weaknesses, were not effective as of December 31, 2017, which may adversely affect our business and our operating results

Our management, fiscal council and internal auditors assess the effectiveness of our controls framework and reporting procedures in accordance with SEC rules, including the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. This analysis adopts the criteria established in the Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission – COSO.

During this evaluation, our management identified material weaknesses in our internal controls in 2017. These material weaknesses refer to our internal controls over (i) monitoring and authorizations of certain transactions in non-wholly owned subsidiaries, (ii) financial reporting related to the accounting of bonds and securities and taxes on regulatory assets, (iii) general information technology (IT) controls for the controlled companies, (iv) the review of estimates used in analyzing the impairment of fixed generation assets and (v) the identification of proceedings that may impact the risk provision for contingencies. In view of these weaknesses, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2017 with respect to the items classified as material weakness.

Although we have developed plans to remedy these material weaknesses, we cannot be certain that there will be no other material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. Therefore, we may be unable to report our results of operations for future periods accurately and in a timely manner and make our required filings with government authorities, including the SEC. Any of these occurrences could adversely affect our business and operating results and could generate negative market reactions, potentially leading to a decline in the price of our shares, ADSs and debt securities.

Risks Relating to the Brazilian Electricity Sector and Other Sectors that We Operate

We are uncertain as to the renewal of certain of our generation and transmission concessions.

Under Federal Law No. 12,783/2013, or the 2013 Concession Renewal Law, we may only renew our concessions that were in effect as of 1995 (and, in the case of generation facilities, generation concession contracts entered into prior to 2003) for an additional 30-year period (or an additional 20-year period in the case of thermal plants), if we agree to amend the terms of the concession contract that is up for renewal to reflect certain new terms and conditions imposed by the 2013 Concession Renewal Law, which vary depending on whether the concession is for generation, transmission or distribution. If we do not agree to amend the concession contract to reflect these new conditions, the concession contract cannot be renewed and will be subject to a competitive bidding process upon its expiration, which we might not win. If we do not renew our generation and transmission concessions or if they are renewed under less favorable conditions, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.For more information, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—Concessions”.

The concession agreement of our controlled company Compagas is under discussion with the granting authority

Compagas has entered into a concession agreement with the State of Paraná, as Granting Authority, pursuant to which the concession shall expire on July 6, 2024. The purpose of this concession is to provide piped gas distribution services and other related activities, to all segments of the consumer market, either as raw material or for the purpose of power generation or other uses made possible by technological advances.

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The gas concession agreement is part of theo called “bifurcated model”, where part of the investments made by the concessionaire is paid by the users of the public service and the remaining part is indemnified by the granting authority, the State of Paraná, at the end of the concession.

On December 7, 2017, the State of Paraná enacted Complementary Law no. 205, setting forth a new interpretation regarding the expiration date of the concession, leading to the understanding that the new expiration date will be January 20, 2019. The management of Compagas, its controlling shareholder and other shareholders are analyzing and questioning the effects of such law, as they understand that these effects are not consistent with the terms set forth in the current concession agreement.

Therefore, in the event of non-extension of the concession, even if Compagas is entitled to compensation for the investments made in the last 10 years prior to the end of the concession, the financial condition and results of operations of our controlled company may be adversely affected.

Our operating results depend on prevailing hydrological conditions, which have been volatile recently. The impact of water shortages and resulting measures taken by the government to conserve energy may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are dependent on the prevailing hydrological conditions throughout Brazil and in the geographic region in which we operate. According to data from ANEEL, approximately 64.0% of Brazil’s installed capacity currently comes from hydroelectric generation facilities. Hydrological conditions in our region, and Brazil in general, are frequently subject to changes because of non-cyclical deviations in average rainfall.

From 2012 to 2015, Brazil experienced a period of low rainfall. Poor hydrological conditions could lead the Brazilian government to institute a rationing program, which would require that our distribution business distribute less energy to Final Customers. Our distribution business would be adversely affected by a mandatory rationing program because its revenues are partially based on the volume of electricity it provides through our distribution grid to Final Customers. However, a mandatory rationing program involves a predictable decrease in energy, which would allow our distribution business to better estimate the amount of electricity it must purchase in order to sell to Final Customers. In addition, in the context of a formal rationing program, our distribution business would be fully compensated for the amount of energy that it purchased prior to the rationing period in excess of the amount of energy it is allowed to distribute under the rationing program, through automatic adjustment in its energy supply contracts.

In contrast, the Brazilian federal government in the past has reacted to poor hydrological conditions not by implementing a formal rationing program, but rather by seeking to reduce the consumption of electricity by Final Customers by other means, for example through general conservation campaigns to raise public awareness. The effect of these campaigns is less predictable, making it difficultfor our distribution business to accurately estimate the volume of energy it needs to purchase for sale to Final Customers.

Furthermore, in the absence of a formal rationing program, our distribution business is not compensated for the amount of energy it had previously contracted that now exceeds the newly-depressed Final Customer demand. Even after a conservation or rationing program ends, it may take several years for demand by Final Customers to fully recover, if at all. Deteriorating hydrological conditions may, therefore, have a material adverse effect on our distribution business.

                In 2014 and 2015 the Brazilian Federal Government provided and facilitated various forms of assistance to distribution concessionaires experiencing cash flow difficulties arising from poor hydrological conditions, which had increased their energy acquisitions costs thereby resulting in mismatches of cash flow in the short-term. These forms of assistance included funding from the CDE Account, credit facilities contracted by the CCEE through the ACR Account and the new “Bandeira Tarifária” system. There is no assurance that the Federal Government will continue this assistance, or that the Federal Government will continue it on favorable terms or that it will be sufficient to cover our losses. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—Energy Sector Regulatory Charges—CDE” and “Item 4. Information on the Company—Energy Sector Regulatory Charges—Regulated Market Account – ACR Account”.

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With respect to our generation business, in order to compensate for poor hydrological conditions and to maintain adequate water levels in reservoirs, the ONS may order the reduction of generation from hydroelectric power plants, which would be partially compensated by increased generation by thermoelectric plants. This mechanism for replacing hydroelectric production with thermoelectric production may not provide all of the energy we need to fulfill our obligations under existing energy supply contracts. To compensate for this deficit, our generation business can be required to purchase energy in the spot market, typically at higher prices, and we would not be able to pass on these increased costs. This mechanism impacts all generation companies in Brazil regardless of whether the geographical region in which a specific generator is located is experiencing low rainfall, and could have a material adverse effect on our generation business.

The Generation Scaling Factor, or GSF, is a factor used to adjust the guaranteed power output and represents the ratio between the total power produced by the hydroelectric plants that integrate the Energy Reallocation Mechanism (Mecanismo de Realocação de Energia, or MRE) and their guaranteed power outputs. This represents, on average, the amount of energy committed to energy generation contracts. If there are excessively low flow rates, the GSF equals to less than 1 and the hydroelectric generators that contracted their guaranteed power outputs have to incur additional costs to acquire energy in the spot market to fulfill their obligations. As Brazil experienced an unusually severe drought between 2012 and 2015, its energy generation was below its expected levels.

In 2015, the financial effects of the GSF on the generation companies were discussed. There was a broad sector debate on the effects of, and solutions for the GSF from an administrative, regulatory, business and legal perspective. Accordingly, Law No. 13,203, dated December 8, 2015, and ANEEL Resolution No. 684, dated December 11, 2015, established the criteria for the approval and the conditions for the renegotiation of the hydrological risks borne by certain hydroelectric generation companies. Pursuant to such new rules, the generators could share their hydrologic risks with consumers, through the payment of a “risk premium”. Copel Geração e Transmissão and Elejor filed a request for the renegotiation of the hydrological risk of HPPs Mauá, Foz do Areia, Santa Clara and Fundão, which was consented through ANEEL Decisions No. 84/2016 and 43/2016, respectively. Subsequently, in 2017 Copel Geração e Transmissão  filed another request for the renegotiation of the hydrological risk of HPPs Cavernoso II e Baixo Iguaçu, which was consented through ANEEL Decision Nº 4101/2017. For more information, see Note 14.1 to our audited consolidated financial statements.

In addition, in an extreme scenario, given the increased presence of thermal generation in the national electric matrix, if a shortage of natural gas were to occur, this would increase the general demand for hydroelectric energy in the market and therefore increase the risk that a rationing program would be instated.

Regarding our energy trading business, the effect of volatility in hydrological conditions is the increase of the variation of energy price , which in turn increases the spot market volatility, thus affecting our operating results.

Spot price (PLD) is determined by mathematical models that consider the prevalence of hydroelectric plants in the Brazilian generation context, hydrological conditions, energy demand, fuel prices, deficit costs, the entry of new projects and the availability of generation and transmission equipment, and aim to find an optimal balance between the present benefit of water usage and the future benefit of its storage, measured in terms of the expected economy of the fuels in thermoelectric plants.

When there is great availability of hydrological resources, the spot price tends to remainat lower levels, which may not be enough to (i) cover the generation costs of this very same energy (when related to our generation business) and (ii) cover the cost of the power purchase and sale agreement in our energy trading business.

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Conversely, if hydrological availability is affected, spot prices tend to increase significantly, in addition to occasionally impacting the GSF, which may adversely impact our costs of energy purchases, as the price set forth in power purchase and sale agreements may not be sufficient.

The construction, expansion and operation of our generation, transmission and distribution facilities and equipment involve significant risks that may cause the loss of revenues or increase of expenses.

The construction, expansion and operation of our generation, transmission and distribution of electricity facilities and equipment involve many risks, including theinability to obtain required governmental permits and approvals,supply interruptions, strikes, climate and hydrological interference, unexpected environmental and engineering problems, increase in losses of electricity (including technical and commercial losses), the unavailability of adequate financing andthe unavailability of equipment.

In the event we experience these or other problems, we might not be able to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in favorable quantities and on favorable terms, which may adversely affect our financial condition and the results of our operations.

ANEEL could penalize us for failing to comply with the terms of our concessions or with applicable laws and regulations, and we may not recover the full value of our investment in the event that any of our concessions are terminated.

Our concessions are for terms of 20 to 35 years and may be extended if certain conditions are met. In the event that we fail to comply with any term of our concessions or applicable law or regulation, ANEEL may impose penalties on us, which may include warnings, the imposition of potentially substantial fines (in some instances, up to 2% of our revenues in the fiscal year immediately preceding the assessment) and restrictions on our operations, among others. ANEEL may also terminate our concessions prior to the expiration of their terms if we fail to comply with their provisions or if they determine that terminating our concessions would be in the public interest, in both cases through an expropriation proceeding. In particular, our renewed distribution concession agreement contains both quality and financial metrics that become more restrictive over time, and that we must meet to ensure that our distribution concession agreement is not terminated. If ANEEL terminates any of our concessions before its expiration, we would not be able to operate the segment(s) of our business that had been authorized by the concession. Furthermore, any compensation that we may receive from the federal government for the unamortized portion of our investment may not be sufficient for us to recover the full value of our investment. The early termination or non-renewal of any of our concessions or the imposition of severe fines or penalties by ANEEL could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—The Brazilian Electric Power Industry—Concessions”.

Our operating revenues could be adversely affected if ANEEL makes decisions relating to our tariffs that are unfavorable to us.

The tariffs that we charge for sales of electricity to Captive Customers are determined pursuant to a concession agreement with the Brazilian government through ANEEL. ANEEL has substantial discretion to establish the tariff rates we charge our customers, which are determined pursuant to a concession agreement with ANEEL and in accordance with ANEEL’s regulatory decision-making authority.

Our distribution concession agreement and Brazilian law establish a price cap mechanism that permits three types of tariff adjustments: (i) annual adjustment (reajuste anual), (ii) periodic revision (revisão periódica), and (iii) extraordinary revision (revisão extraordinária). We are entitled to apply each year for the annual revision, which is designed to offset some effects of inflation on tariffs and pass through to customers certain changes in our cost structure that are beyond our control, such as the cost of electricity we purchase from certain sources and certain other regulatory charges, including charges for the use of transmission facilities. In addition, ANEEL carries out a periodic revision every five years that is aimed at identifying variations in our costs as well as setting a factor based on our operational efficiency that will be applied against the index of our ongoing annual tariff revision, the effect of which is to ensure that we share the benefits of improved economies of scale with our customers. At any time, we may also request an extraordinary revision of our tariffs in the case of a significant and unexpected event, including if such an event significantly alters our cost structure.

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We cannot assure you that ANEEL will establish tariffs at rates that are favorable to us. To the extent that any of our requests for adjustments are not granted by ANEEL in a timely manner, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. In addition, ANEEL’s decisions relating to our tariffs may be contested by public authorities or by our customers. Administrative and judicial decisions resulting from these challenges may modify ANEEL’s decisions in a manner that is unfavorable to us, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to comprehensive regulation of our business, which fundamentally affects our financial performance.

Our business is subject to extensive regulation by various Brazilian legal and regulatory authorities, particularly the MME and ANEEL, which regulate and oversee various aspects of our business and establish our tariffs. Changes to the laws and regulations governing our operations, which have occurred in the past, could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

For example, the Brazilian government has taken action to reduce tariffs in recent years. In order to substantially reduce the price paid by Final Customers for electricity, the Brazilian government enacted the 2013 Concession Renewal Law, which significantly changed the conditions under which concessionaires are able to renew concession contracts. Under the 2013 Concession Renewal Law, most generation, transmission and distribution concessionaires may be renewed at the request of the concessionaire for an additional period of 30 years, but only if the concessionaire agrees to amend the terms of the concession contract to reflect certain new terms and conditions. For more information, see “Item 4. Information on the Company - Concessions”.

If any further regulations or new laws are passed by the Brazilian government to lower electricity prices, these new laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. If we are required to conduct our business in a manner substantially different from our current operations as a result of regulatory changes, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

The regulatory framework under which we operate is subject to legal challenge.

The Brazilian government implemented fundamental changes in the regulation of the electric power industry under the 2004 legislation known as the New Industry Model Law (Lei do Novo Modelo do Setor Elétrico) and, recently, under the 2013 Concession Renewal Law. Challenges to the constitutionality of both laws are still pending before the Brazilian Supreme Court. If all or part of these laws were held to be unconstitutional, it would have uncertain consequences for the validity of existing regulation and the further development of the regulatory framework. The outcome of the legalproceedings is difficult to predict, but they could have an adverse impact on the entire energy sector, including our business and results of operations.

Certain customers in our distribution concession area may cease to purchase energy from our distribution business.

Our distribution business generates a large portion of its revenues by selling energy that it purchases from generation companies. Large electricity customers within the geographic area of our concession that meet certain regulatory requirements may qualify as free customers (“Free Customers”). A Free Customer in our distribution concession area is entitled to purchase energy directly from generation companies rather than through our distribution business, in which case that Free Customer would cease to pay our distribution business for that energy that we previously supplied. Therefore, if the number of Free Customers within the geographic area of our concession increases and these Free Customers purchase energy from sources other than our generation business, our revenues and results of operations would be adversely affected. Furthermore, prices in the free market have recently been lower than those in the regulated market in the past years, which has been leading to an increase in the number of Free Customers within the geographic area of our concession.

In addition, ANEEL has recently improved regulations related to micro and mini distributed generation, which has been facilitating customers to purchase or to lease power generation equipment, specially solar photovoltaic modules, to produce energy for their own consumption. Therefore, if the number of customers with micro and mini distributed generation within the geographic area of our concession increases, our revenues and results of operations could also be adversely affected.

We generate a portion of our operating revenues from Free Customers who may seek other energy suppliers upon the expiration of their contracts with us.

As of December 31, 2017, we had 191 Free Customers, representing approximately 5.1% of our consolidated operating revenues and approximately 10.6% of the total volume of electricity we sold to Final Customers.

Until March 31, 2018, Copel GeT  signed 5 additional agreements with Free Customers in our generation business. Our contracts with Free Customers are typically for periods ranging between two years and five years in our generation business.

Approximately for Copel GeT, 9.4% of the megawatt-hours sold under contracts to Free Customers expired in 2017. These customers represented approximately 2.7% of the total volume of electricity that Copel GeT sold in 2017, and approximately 2.2% of Copel GeT operating revenues from energy sales for that year. There can be no assurance that Free Customers will enter into contracts or extend their current contracts to purchase energy from us.

Additionally, it is possible that our large industrial clients could be authorized by ANEEL to generate electric energy for their own consumption or sale to other parties, in which case they may obtain an authorization or concession for the generation of electric power in a given area, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

Regarding our energy trading company, as of December 31, 2017, we had 139 Free Customers, representing approximately 0.9% of our consolidated operating revenues and approximately 3.2% of the total volume of electricity we sold to Final Customers.

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We may be forced to purchase or sell energy in the spot market at higher or lower prices if our forecasts for energy demand are not accurate, if there is a shortage of energy supply available in the regulated market or if energy we contract is not delivered, and we may not be entitled to pass on any increased costs or incurred losses to our Final Customers in a timely manner, or at all.

Under the New Industry Model Law, electric energy distributors, including us, must contract to purchase, through public bids conducted by ANEEL, 100% of the forecasted electric energy demand fortheir respective distribution concession areas, up to seven years prior to the actual delivery of electric energy. We cannot guarantee that our forecasts for energy demand in our distribution concession area will be accurate. If our forecasts fall short of actual electricity demand, or if we are unable to purchase energy through the regulated market due to lack of energy supply in the market, or if a generation company fails to deliver energy that was previously contracted, we may be forced to make up for the shortfall by entering into short-term agreements to purchase electricity in the spot market where we may pay significantly more for energy without being able to pass on these increased costs to our Final Customers. In addition, if we underestimate our distribution energy needs, we may be subject to penalties imposed by the Electric Energy Trading Chamber (Câmara de Comercialização de Energia Elétrica, or “CCEE”). Moreover, if our forecasts surpass actual demand by more than the allowed margin (105% of actual demand), including where demand is depressed due to government campaigns in response to poor hydrological conditions or due to reduced economic activity, we will not be able to pass on to our Final Customers the cost of the excess energy that we acquire.

In 2016, as a consequence of the country’s economic crisis and the increase in the number of Free Customers who were attracted by lower prices in the free market, several distribution companies were contracted above 105% of their actual demand. As a result, those companies incurred losses arising from the sale of the excess energy at lower prices in the spot market. On the other hand, facing this same scenario in 2017, the distribution companies sold the surplus energy at a higher price in the spot market, resulting in the possibility of earnings.

On August 28, 2017 the Decree 9.143/2017 was published, recognizing the involuntary nature of energy surplus arising from the migration of consumers to the Free Market and, for the year 2018, this problem is expected to be solved. However, we cannot ensure the results of such new rules and their impact on our operations.

Our equipment, facilities and operations are subject to numerous environmental and health regulations, which may become more stringent in the future and may result in increased liabilities and increased capital expenditures.

Our distribution, transmission and generation activities are subject to comprehensive federal, state and local legislation, as well as supervision by Brazilian governmental agencies that are responsible for the implementation of environmental and health laws and policies. These agencies could take enforcement action against us for our failure to comply with their regulations and with requirements established for the maintenance of our environmental licenses. These actions could result in, among other things, the imposition of fines and revocation of licenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. It is also possible that enhanced environmental and health regulations will force us to allocate capital towards compliance, and consequently, divert funds away from planned investments. Such a diversion could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We are strictly liable for any damages resulting from inadequate provision of electricity services and our insurance policies may not fully cover such damages.

We are strictly liable under Brazilian law for damages resulting from the inadequate provision of electricity distribution services. In addition, our distribution, transmission and generation utilities may be held liable for damages caused to others as a result of interruptions or disturbances arising from the Brazilian generation, transmission or distribution systems, whenever these interruptions or disturbances are not attributed to an identifiable member of the National Electric System Operator, theOperador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico (“ONS”). We cannot assure you that our insurance policies will fully cover damages resulting from inadequate rendering of electricity services, which may have an adverse effect on us.

We are the controlling shareholders of a company that operates a gas distribution business (Compagas) and we are consequently exposed to risks inherent to this sector.

                We control a business in the gas distribution sector, which is operated by Companhia Paranaense de Gas – Compagas. This company is entitled to exclusive rights with respect to the supply of piped gas in the State of Paraná. The clients of this business are thermoelectric plants, cogeneration plants, gas stations, other companies and residences.

                Businesses in the gas distribution sector are subject to a broad set of risks inherent to its operation, including among the main ones:

•Regulatory instability,

•Shortage of natural gas,

•Depending on a single supplier in Brazil,

•Capacity of financing expansion,

•Operational failures and accidents in distribution,

•Performance of outsourced service providers,

•Alternative energy sources,

•Quality in service.

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