As a positive and hopeful message, the governor of Atlántico, Eduardo Veran, received the response from President Gustavo Petro, and the Minister of Mines and Energy, Andrés Camacho, in relation to his request for reduce electricity service rates in the Caribbean region.
(You can read: President Petro announces agreement with Mayor Alejandro Char to generate clean energy in popular neighborhoods)
During the event “Government with the Popular Neighborhoods”, held at the Evardo Turizo Palencia District Educational Institution in the La Esmeralda neighborhood in the southwest of Barranquilla, a balance of the actions carried out so far to address this problem was presented.
“In order not to charge the user’s bill, we have negotiated a debt of 5 billion and the president has told us that we have to be honest with the debt and the Nation must assume it, not the citizen,” said the Minister of Mines and Energy.
These attributions that are made to the invoice go hand in hand with the technical losses (of the electrical system) and non-technical losses (due to theft) that companies have. Air-e and Afinia that, in the same way, are included in the bill what the governor of Atlántico, Eduardo Verano, has repeatedly pointed out as unfair.
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The second point is the renegotiation of bilateral contract rates that are being carried out with the companies Afinia and Air-e to review the agreed prices and reduce them based on the economic realities of the energy market, which would give a change in the current monopoly system.
In this sense, we are waiting to begin dialogues with the users’ spokespersons to complete the process of seeking consensus.
And a third aspect refers to the rate option, through the securitization of the debt that was generated with the commercialization during the pandemic period, after the previous national government froze the payment of rates to users during the period of covid-19 pandemic.
A pilot plan to install solar panels will be carried out in Barranquilla and Soledad
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The president finally announced that in Barranquilla and Soledad a pilot installation plan will be made solar panels on roofs of homes in poor neighborhoods and that will then be made effective to the rest of the Caribbean region in such a way that the rates paid, especially the most vulnerable communities, allow them to save.
The investment, by the national government, will be one billion pesos, while the mayors, districts and governorates must also make financial contributions. “This can’t wait and it should happen now,” he said.
