COLOMBIA · ENERGY
Key Facts
- The finding A city audit flags a presumed harm of 739.6 billion pesos (US$230 million) in the 2020 Afinia purchase.
- The company EPM is the public utility group of Medellín; Afinia is its power distributor on the Caribbean coast.
- The stakes EPM says it has put over 3.6 trillion pesos (US$1.1 billion) into Afinia in six years.
- The next step The case moves to the auditor’s fiscal responsibility office, which has five years to decide.
- The rule Nobody has been found liable; the people linked to the case have the right to defend themselves.
- Power Index Colombia ranks 6th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 51.1 points (November 2026 edition).
A city audit in Colombia says a 2020 power purchase may have cost the EPM utility about US$230 million. The finding became public in the last days of October 2026 and now goes to a separate fiscal investigation.
EPM, short for Empresas Públicas de Medellín, is a public utility group that serves more than 10 million customers across five countries. For US readers, the case shows how a 2020 deal on Colombia’s Caribbean coast still weighs on a public company’s finances.
What the Auditor Found
Medellín’s district comptroller, the city’s public auditor, structured an administrative finding with a presumed fiscal impact of 739.6 billion pesos (about US$230 million). It covers the decision by EPM to close the purchase of CaribeMar, now called Afinia, on 30 September 2020.
The auditor bases the figure on dividends EPM did not receive for 2024 and 2025, which the deal’s business case had promised. Those two years add up to 509.2 billion pesos (US$158 million) and 230.3 billion pesos (US$72 million).
All peso amounts in this article use the official rate of 3,221 pesos per US$1 on Thursday 5 November 2026. They are rounded to the nearest million dollars.
Why the Auditor Says EPM Could Have Walked Away
The share purchase contract, signed on 30 March 2020, set a reference bill-collection rate of 81.33%, and missing it counted as a material adverse effect. The auditor says that clause let EPM skip the closing without penalty, yet an amendment in September 2020 gave up that exit.
The auditor says EPM took the decision at a vulnerable moment, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergency at the Hidroituango dam. It also notes that the company being bought was under state intervention and its statutory auditor had declined to give an opinion on its accounts.
Who Led EPM When the Deal Closed
Medellín’s comptroller, Paula Andrea Ortega, said the EPM board of that time was led by former mayor Daniel Quintero. She said the finding grew from a financial audit of EPM, and earlier annual reports had warned the city council about Afinia.
Medellín’s current mayor, Federico Gutiérrez, called the purchase the worst decision in the history of EPM. Ortega said everyone linked to the case can defend themselves, and that her office aims to close such cases within two years.
What Afinia Costs EPM Today
EPM’s general manager, John Maya, has called Afinia the worst business in the history of EPM. He said EPM sent Afinia about 1.5 trillion pesos (US$466 million) in a year, and more than 3.6 trillion pesos (US$1.1 billion) over six years.
Afinia also owes money to the wholesale power market. XM, the operator of that market, notified Afinia of 131 billion pesos (US$41 million) in unpaid October power purchases.
By Thursday 29 October 2026, Afinia had paid that bill with EPM’s backing. The payment suspended power cuts planned for 30 October that would have hit about 1.4 million customers in Bolívar, Córdoba and Sucre.
In Plain English, Who Is Who
EPM is the public utility group of Medellín, Colombia’s second-largest city, and it owns Afinia. Afinia sells electricity to customers in Bolívar, Córdoba and Sucre, three departments (Colombian states) on the Caribbean coast.
The district comptroller is Medellín’s own public auditor, separate from the national comptroller. A finding with presumed fiscal impact says public money may have been lost, but a separate process must still prove it.
XM runs Colombia’s wholesale electricity market and can limit supply to companies that do not pay for the power they buy. Hidroituango is EPM’s giant hydroelectric dam in Antioquia, which suffered a major emergency before the 2020 deal; see our report on EPM’s extortion complaints.
What It Means for You
For travelers, the risk is practical: the planned cuts were due in Bolívar, the department whose capital is the tourist city of Cartagena. Check with your hotel if you plan a long stay on the coast.
For investors, the finding bears on a company whose results feed Medellín’s city finances. A heavy loss-making unit can shrink what EPM sends to the city, as our earlier reporting on its falling transfers showed.
What Is Not Known
Whether the fiscal responsibility office will name Quintero or other former board members is not decided. The office decides after it hears the defense, and Ortega says it aims to finish within two years.
How much the deal will finally cost EPM is also open. EPM’s manager can answer in the company’s next results, and the fiscal process sets any final sum only after it ends.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Afinia?
Afinia is EPM’s electricity distribution and sales company on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. EPM bought it in 2020 from a company that had been under state intervention.
Has anyone been found guilty?
No. The finding is a first step that says public money may have been lost, and everyone linked to the case can defend themselves.
How much is the finding worth?
It is 739.6 billion pesos, about US$230 million at the official rate of 5 November 2026. The auditor bases it on dividends EPM did not receive for 2024 and 2025.
Could Afinia customers lose power?
Cuts planned for 30 October were suspended after Afinia paid its wholesale power bill with EPM’s backing. EPM’s manager says the company’s finances remain strained.
Sources: Contraloría Distrital de Medellín, press bulletin on the Afinia finding, October 2026; Grupo EPM, company profile, accessed 6 November 2026; Superfinanciera de Colombia, official exchange rate (TRM) dataset, 5 November 2026, 3,221.19 pesos per US$1; XM, operator of Colombia’s wholesale electricity market, October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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