The 10 companies to which the National Government owes the most money for energy subsidies

To help the most vulnerable families, for more than 30 years the National Government has subsidized a part of the electricity service paid each month by those who are part of strata one, two and three.

For households in stratum one, this subsidy is 60 percent of subsistence consumption, while for those in stratum two it is 50 percent and for families in stratum three, 15 percent.

However, and for the first time in history, the National Government has been delayed for almost a year in paying these subsidies , which are first assumed by the companies that provide this service in the country.

Through a discount on the monthly electricity bill, companies assume these subsidies, and several months later, the National Government reimburses them for the money delivered during each quarter of the year.

According to estimates by the Colombian Association of Electric Energy Distributors (Asocodis) , the National Government's debt to companies from March 2024 to January 2025 amounts to 2.8 trillion pesos.

However, to date the Ministry of Mines and Energy has only carried out the settlement and reconciliation of some electricity subsidies delivered in 2024, which total 1.3 billion pesos.

In detail, as of the third quarter of 2024 , subsidies amounting to 597,016 million pesos have been settled and are pending payment by the Ministry of Finance.

96 percent of these resources are concentrated in 10 companies that provide electricity services. The largest debt is with Afinia, a subsidiary of Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), as it amounts to 213.137 billion pesos.

Additionally, based on the amounts reconciled by the companies, another 715.911 billion pesos are pending, although to date the payment resolutions have not been issued so that these payments can be made to the companies.

There are also 12.374 billion pesos left to be paid to the company Energía para el Amazonas (Enam) for subsidies delivered during the second and third quarters of 2024 to users located in Non-Interconnected Zones (ZNI).

The National Government has also not allocated 70.788 billion pesos to subsidize, from August to December 2024, the electric power service of users who are located in special areas.

These subsidies are financed by the Social Energy Fund (Foes), but have not yet been applied to users' billing because regulations establish that companies must do so only after they actually receive the resources.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, despite the fact that the necessary steps have been taken and the transfer of subsidies has been requested, the Ministry of Finance has not allocated the necessary resources to make the transfers to the companies.

This is because the National Government is facing serious cash flow problems, which is why it had to postpone 12 billion pesos from the General Budget for 2025 that were intended to be financed with the tax reform that failed in the Congress of the Republic.

However, at the beginning of February , the Minister of Finance, Diego Guevara, promised to pay 800 billion pesos of the debt owed to companies for subsidies.

This payment will be divided into three payments over the next three months to avoid the blackouts that companies have been warning about due to the lack of resources to continue operating.

Thus, at the end of February, 350 billion pesos will be paid, in March another payment of 250 billion pesos will be made and in April there will be an additional payment of 200 billion pesos.

But this debt increases every month because companies continue to put up more than 300 billion pesos to finance the subsidies. Therefore, at the end of April, the amount of this debt would remain practically intact.