Colombia energy crisis threatens Caribbean region reliability

Colombia is facing a critical energy reliability crisis, particularly in the Caribbean region, driven by the El Niño phenomenon, rising demand, and infrastructure vulnerabilities. Data from XM indicates that between April and August 2026, the Caribbean region suffered a deficit of 20.83 GWh due to unserved demand, caused by infrastructure maintenance, regional transmission system exhaustion, and local distribution failures.

Industry leaders and regional officials are calling for structural reforms. The National Association of Generating Companies (Andeg) warned of a firm energy deficit and suggested reactivating the reliability charge mechanism to attract an estimated $65 billion in investment over the next decade. Efraín Cepeda Tarud, president of the Atlántico Inter-guild Committee, emphasized that energy security must become a state policy to avoid political dependency and urged the settlement of debts totaling approximately 3 trillion pesos owed by Air-e to generators.

In response to the potential collapse of current operators like Air-e and Afinia, Eduardo Verano de la Rosa, Governor of Atlántico, proposed the creation of a regional mixed-economy company to decentralize energy policy. He argued that centralized formulas from Bogotá fail to account for the extreme heat in the Caribbean, where cooling is a basic necessity. Meanwhile, Air-e is engaging with local leaders to promote energy conservation and efficiency programs to mitigate the impact of high temperatures.