Colombia Electricity Bills Now Come With a Personal Savings Target
COLOMBIA · ENERGY
Key Facts
- —The mechanism Each household and small business gets a consumption target calculated from its own 12-month usage history.
- —The penalty Exceeding that target by more than 10 percent triggers an extra charge, applied only to the excess units.
- —The reward Cutting monthly consumption more than 10 percent below target earns a credit at the end of the programme.
- —The catch A target built from your own history rewards past waste and penalises households that were already frugal.
- —The clock The temporary savings programme started on 1 September 2026 and is planned for six months.
- —The rules CREG Resolutions 101 120 and 101 126 of 2026 set the measures, the second effective from 1 September.
Colombia has not announced rationing. It has done something more precise: given every household its own number and priced the overshoot.
Colombia electricity customers are now measured against themselves. Every household and small business has been assigned a consumption target drawn from its own last twelve months.
The rules came from CREG, the energy and gas regulator. President Abelardo de la Espriella announced the approval of two measures under a programme called Plan Energía YA.
The savings programme began on 1 September 2026. It is planned to run six months.
Two resolutions carry it, 101 120 and 101 126 of 2026. The second took effect on 1 September after a decision on 31 August.
How the Target Works
The number is personal. It is calculated from each user’s own consumption over the preceding twelve months, not from a national average.
Go more than 10 percent above it and an additional charge applies. Crucially, that charge falls only on the kilowatt hours above the limit.
Cut consumption more than 10 percent below the target and the user accumulates a positive balance. That credit is settled at the end of the programme.
This is a price signal rather than a quota. No Colombia electricity user is cut off, and nothing is switched off centrally.
Why Colombia Is Doing This Now
The trigger is El Niño and the drought that comes with it. The stated aim is to reduce the risk of shortages through the 2026 and 2027 dry season.
Colombia’s power system leans heavily on hydroelectricity. When reservoir inflows fall, generation capacity falls with them.
The country has been here before. Colombia rationed electricity in the early 1990s, and that episode remains the reference point in every drought since.
De la Espriella framed the measures as a way to avoid runaway tariff increases. He also described them as penalising those who do not save.
The Design Problem Nobody Mentions
A target built from a household’s own history is administratively simple and quietly unfair. It rewards the household that used a lot and punishes the one that used little.
A family already running a lean 150 kilowatt hours a month has almost nothing left to cut. A neighbour at 500 can hit the target by changing one habit.
Baselining on history is common in demand-response schemes worldwide, and this criticism follows it everywhere. It is the price of not means-testing.
The alternative, a flat per-person allowance, is fairer in principle and much harder to administer. Regulators reaching for speed tend to choose history.
What This Means for Residents and Businesses
For households the practical step is to find last year’s Colombia electricity bills. The target is anchored to that record, so the record is worth knowing.
The 10 percent band on either side is wide enough to absorb an unusual month. It is not wide enough to absorb a new appliance or a new occupant.
Small businesses are inside the scheme alongside households. A shop that expands trading hours will cross its target through growth, not waste.
There is no published exemption for that case in the reporting available. Businesses planning to expand this summer should assume the charge applies.
What to Watch
The first marker is reservoir levels. If inflows recover, the programme’s six-month horizon becomes its natural end.
The second is whether the credit actually arrives. A reward settled at the end of a programme depends on the programme reaching its end intact.
The third is tariffs. Colombia electricity prices are regulated, and the savings scheme is meant to hold down an increase rather than prevent one.
The fourth is enforcement. A scheme that penalises overshoot needs accurate metering, and Colombia’s metering quality varies by region.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Plan Energía YA?
A temporary Colombian energy-saving programme approved by regulator CREG and announced by President Abelardo de la Espriella, running from 1 September 2026 for a planned six months, in response to drought linked to El Niño.
How is my consumption target calculated?
From your own consumption over the previous twelve months. Exceeding it by more than 10 percent triggers an additional charge on the excess kilowatt hours only. Cutting more than 10 percent below the target earns a credit settled at the end of the programme.
Is Colombia rationing electricity?
No. Nothing is being switched off or capped. The scheme works through pricing: users who overshoot their personal target pay more for the units above it, and users who undershoot accumulate a credit.
Sources: Infobae, Comisión de Regulación de Energía y Gas (CREG) Resolutions 101 120 and 101 126 of 2026, Rio Times.
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