The citizens of Atlántico, Bolívar, Magdalena, La Guajira, Cesar, Córdoba and Sucre tThey have something in common: they have been facing high energy rates for months. Given this claim, the representatives to the House from the Caribbean region cited a debate on political control in which they asked senior government officials, as well as managers and directors of companies, for answers.
KEEP READING: María José Pizarro ‘sang the stage’ for Vicky Dávila
By way of context, some factors that have made rates in the region more expensive for more than a year were presented. Firstly, forecasts about the El Niño phenomenon would have raised stock prices; Secondly, the contribution of the generation component increased because the region’s marketers have a part of their demand exposed to stock market prices. Third, at the end of 2023 The CREG began the process of recovering the deferred balances due to the adoption of the system of optional rates established during the pandemic.. The charges were lower than the regulated rate for several months, so the energy service marketers accumulated high financial deficits.
TOPICS OF INTEREST: The congressmen sang the table to President Petro
The session began with the intervention of representative Wadith Manzur, of the Conservative Party, who highlighted the distressing situation faced by the inhabitants of the Caribbean due to exorbitant energy costs. “It is not possible that in the Caribbean people have to decide between paying bills or eating,” he said.
MORE TO READ: Iván Cepeda assured that he has some criticisms of the Petro Government
The vice president of the Chamber, Fernando Niño, highlighted an alarming 120% increase in energy rates since 2022. For his part, the representative of the Historical Pact, Alfredo Mondragón, attributed part of this problem to speculation on the part of some private actors, describing the situation in the Caribbean as a tragedy. “Energy generators rob the Colombian people: when the reservoirs are full, they do not lower the price per kWh of electricity, and when they are low, they raise prices by more than 50%. Then they blame Gustavo Petro,” he said.
Representative Dorina Hernández, also from the government bench, blamed the previous government for having included a differential energy rate in said administration. “We need to eliminate that fee that the congressmen who were here in the last period approved in the Duque National Development Plan law, and they cannot say that they did not realize it,” she warned.
This statement drew the support of representative Pedro Suarez Vacca, of the Historical Pact, who emphasized the need to “recognize and correct” previous decisions that contributed to the current situation. “We cannot cover up the mistakes of the past that could have caused today’s situation,” he said, supporting Hernández.
KEEP READING: This is how the congressmen reacted to raising the M-19 flag
For her part, Ingrid Aguirre, from Fuerza Ciudadana, highlighted citizen support for popular action to curb the costs of the companies Air-e and Afinia. “The Coast needs a public company that provides a fair and accessible service. It is urgent to prioritize the real needs of the people. “Enough of impossible-to-pay fees!” said the representative.
Representatives of the Democratic Center also warned of concern about the current panorama. Hernán Cadavid pointed out that the country is going through uncertainty in energy matters due to the structural changes in the ministries called for debate, which is why he assured that “it is not convenient to make changes of officials in such a short time”, an opinion that Juan Espinal supported by adding that “in the midst of a crisis like the one we are experiencing, energy should not be sold to Ecuador,” he said, insisting on the importance of taking care of our own resources.
In turn, the National Government indicated that the decisions made have taken into account the challenges of the region. The Minister of Environment, Susana Muhamad, assured that it is being carried out to confront the El Niño Phenomenon. “We invested in the creation of Forestry Brigades for prevention, we accelerated the delivery of environmental licenses for wind farms, solar parks and transmission lines, in 18 months we have granted 19 licenses for these projects. We must be climate conscious because the climate crisis has become the new reality of many territories in the country,” she said.
Meanwhile Andrés Camacho, Minister of Mines and Energy, said that the discussion shows the need to advance in the energy transition. “We have had the maximum historical temperatures and the minimum rainfall in our country and we remain on thanks to the fact that we have taken preventive measures, working with all the technical and human capacity and with all the measures to face the energy situation in the most optimal way” , He said.
twenty
