:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/46TSKYLLHFHIBC5QC444VU3WZ4.jpg "The demands of the Creg and the unions by proxy that Gustavo Petro will have with the public services 1")
After the signing of Gustavo Petro of Decree 0227 of 2023the sector of public services He was very concerned about the powers that the president will have. The resumption of control of the tariff setting functions, among other provisions, has alerted the unions and the same commissions that have dealt with these issues. The head of government will take the regulatory reins until May 16.
Gustavo Petro would change utility pricing methodology
After the president takes charge of tariff control, the sector fears the shock in the entities, and why the changes could generate shortages and underfunding in the companies concerned
There Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission I already knew that the decree would be signed, one could say that it had been sung since the end of November, but, the Craigwho could hardly change the designation, sent a long letter to the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Velez Torrespointing out that they respect their concepts, that despite the provisions, the regulation in terms of price control is taken into account, and that this could have serious implications in terms of supply and financing.
“We want to stress the importance of maintaining a regulatory framework which is the product of a technical discussion between government, experts from an independent regulatory body, academia, industry, user organizations and other interested parties, which gives the assurance that the sector will continue to develop in an environment of State intervention characterized by the issuance of technically justified rules with a long-term vision, a necessary condition for linking the new investments requested by the sector in the short, medium and long term, without affecting public finances are always scarce,” explains Creg.
The commission is very categorical in asking Irene Velez that technical independence is respected, taking into account not only the regulatory framework, but also everything that is already established by law. They recall that mismanagement could take the country back to the days of blackouts seen between 1992 and 1993:
“Thus, affecting the rules defined to ensure the reliability of the system, which was one of the lessons left by the situation of shortage of demand in the period 1992-1993, puts the attention on the demand in jeopardy in the event of critical event. , which could lead to situations of neglect of said request. In the same sense, the case could occur when mechanisms that contribute to reliability are affected, such as the reference path of the tank, which has been developed from the experience of managing reservoirs under critical conditions.
The Executive Director of the National Association of Production Companies (Andeg), Alejandro Castaneda, made several statements, where he reflected the uncertainty generated by the publication of the decree. He assures there is no clarity on what the president can do Petroand that the mode of operation of the commissions and the entities involved is the reason why there is no mistrust of the sector.
“Energy tariffs are structured and complex to define, which is why they must be studied, analyzed and it is their function, the president can make decisions on the service delivery chain (…) In the last 30 years we haven’t we’ve turned it off, coverage has grown and discourse has depoliticized Tariffs can’t be a political decision, they have to recognize the law, operating expenses and maintenance,” he explained in an interview with snail radio.
Some other associations are weighing the possibility of continuing the decree, or whether they can declare it void for unconstitutionality, taking into account the fact that there was already another provision which gave these powers to the Craig.
“According to the legal analysis, the CCENERGÍA considers it of the utmost importance to point out that the draft decree could suffer from legal defects (…) it can be technically concluded that one aspect is the definition general policies for the administration and efficiency control of residential public services, and quite different, the regulation of tariffs, which is not included in the act of delegation of the executive, and on the contrary, was a function which, within the framework of the constitutional powers vested in the legislator (article 150 of the Constitution), they have been attributed with the force of law to the CREG”, they explained from the Colombian Energy Chamber.