The Committee of Experts of the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (Creg) intervening in energy rates can carry out rationing in the coming summer season.
(Also read: Creg warned Minister Irene Vélez about intervention in energy rates).
According to the committee, intervening in the prices of the wholesale energy market implies a distortion in the behavior of the market that eliminates the possibility of using the price as a mechanism to rationalize the reservoirs and transfers to the State the risk of their operation.
«In this way, if an extreme dry hydrology situation were to occur next summer, given the probability of occurrences of an ‘El Niño’ phenomenon, we will have a very complex panorama with the risk of facing the possibility of not meet the demand continuously”, they stipulate.
It is essential that decisions made on regulatory issues preserve the essential principles of financial sufficiency and efficient costs.
In the same way, the experts will point out that an intervention would affect the rights of citizens such as quality and supply.
(Of interest: Ecopetrol: Chairman of the Board does not rule out selling fracking business in the US.)
«An intervention in tariffs outside the scheme created since 1994 will certainly affect the obligations to provide the service and will intrinsically modify the remuneration conditions, with its consequent effect on the continuity, quality and other rights of service users”, they stand out.
The committee made the warnings and recorded that regulating the market is not the function of the President, but that the law directly gives them that power and this due to an announcement by President Gustavo Petro to resume part of the functions of the Creg.
“Law 143 of 1994 assigned to the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission the functions of regulating the electricity service, without subjection to a delegation of these by the President of the Republic”, stand out in the Creg.
They did so by means of a letter to the Minister of Energy Irene Vélez on February 14.
The Colombian energy sector also received with many reservations the Government’s decision to take control of the definition of energy rates, since considering that this increases the risks of eventual rationing, it goes against continuous, efficient and quality provision. of this service and Furthermore, because it is an attribution that goes against the rules and even the Constitution.
(You can read: César Gaviria’s warnings to the pension reform).
«There is a lot of risk due to uncertainty and little clarity of legal security,» warns Camilo Sánchez, president of the National Association of Public Services and Communications Companies (Andesco), a concern shared by the directives of the Colombian Association of Electric Power Generators ( Acolgén), as well as the Committee of Experts of the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (Creg), among other spokespersons for the energy sector.
Faced with the threat of price intervention, it is possible that there will be less investment because there will be more intervention risks.
Jamie Moreno. TIME
From Acolgén, for example, its directives called on the Government so that «the regulations that are issued adhere to the current constitutional and legal framework,» are supported by solid technical and legal arguments and basic sectoral pillars are not sacrificedregarding the sufficiency of supply and energy security, which the country demands.
In this sense, they are working on some proposals, which will be presented this week to the Government, with objectives aligned between what it seeks and the sustainability of the energy sector.
One of the biggest concerns in the sector has to do with the risk that, after the decision to intervene in the energy market, the country will go backwards and the investments that are needed will stop. to continue advancing in the energy sustainability that the country demands.
(Furthermore: Carlos Gustavo Cano leaves the Ecopetrol board due to «lack of trust»).
From the Creg, the commissioners recall that the confidence gained by the electricity sector in the last three decades has been the product of coordinated work between the public and private sectors, a task that they say must be maintained for the future of the sector in the country.
The challenge is to strengthen the entire Colombian energy infrastructure, improve quality standards and reduce loss levels
Proof of the above, he adds, is that the construction of generation plants has been financed by national and international banks without mediating contracts between the investor and any agent of the system, but with the support of the reliability charge, scheme that has encouraged investments of 17,000 million dollars, distributed in 30 projects that add up to a capacity close to 6,000 MW.
The Creg also recalls that «the expansion of the national transmission network has materialized with important private investments supported by confidence in the Creg rules and the Upme selection processes.»
All this development has been possible due to the trust in the institutions of the built sector over the last three decades.
In that, they insist that in the face of the country’s energy future it is clear that greater investments will be contracted to guarantee sustainability, quality and service.
That is why they make it clear that the challenge of incorporating more investment in the construction of generation plants pTo expand the firm energy capacity of the system for the years 2027 and following, to meet the growth in energy demand of those years, even in critical conditionsbut for this, confidence in State regulation must be preserved and the signal must be maintained that any modification to the sector’s standards will be the result of a rigorous and transparent technical analysis and, that in any case, acquired rights will be protected, the consolidated legal situations and the investment executed based on the legitimate confidence in the stability of the fundamental rules.
The challenge ahead is to strengthen the entire Colombian energy infrastructure, improve quality standards and reduce loss levels, «which will be possible with the investments that are being made to achieve the required renovation goals and to be able to move forward, together with the installation of advanced measurement, in the consolidation of the network platform necessary for the aforementioned energy transition ”, they insist on the Creg.
From Andesco they warn that «it is essential that decisions made on regulatory issues preserve the essential principles of financial sufficiency and recognition of efficient costs, undoubtedly having as objective an adequate provision of the service to the users of the country”.
In this regard, he specified that it is essential for the country and consumers that these issues be dealt with in a technical manner, taking into account all the financial, economic, environmental and social variables to guarantee that the services offered are of the best quality, while best possible price and for the largest number of Colombians
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