Santa Marta faces electricity cost disputes and grid instability

Santa Marta is facing significant electricity challenges involving both regulatory costs and infrastructure instability. A legal injunction (tutela) has been filed against the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission (CREG) to block additional charges for consumers who exceed specific consumption targets during periods of energy scarcity.

The legal action argues that CREG's current methodology fails to account for the extreme temperatures in the Caribbean region, which necessitate the constant use of fans and cooling systems. The petitioners contend that applying uniform consumption reduction targets across different climates is inequitable.

Simultaneously, the utility provider Air-e has reported that approximately 40% of Santa Marta's neighborhoods—roughly 123 out of 313—operate under subnormal electrical networks. These areas suffer from overloaded transformers, improvised connections, and frequent power fluctuations. Air-e attributed much of the instability to fraudulent connections, which account for an estimated 33% of energy loss, and has requested public funding to normalize the aging and unplanned infrastructure.