Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad

What it is

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad — known universally as ICE — is Costa Rica’s government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider. The parent company, ICE, heads a group of state entities that also includes distribution subsidiary Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL), telecoms arm Radiográfica Costarricense (RACSA), and a debt-collection unit.

ICE manages Costa Rica’s electricity system exclusively and has achieved 99.4% national electricity coverage, with an energy mix that is more than 95% renewable. It earns revenue primarily from selling electricity and telecommunications services — the latter regulated by SUTEL, the former by the public services regulator ARESEP.

Who owns it

Grupo ICE is controlled indirectly by the public administration of the Government of Costa Rica — meaning every Costa Rican citizen is, in effect, a stakeholder. The group’s financial policy is to reinvest net profits to strengthen electricity production and telecommunications services; it cannot be treated as a source of tax revenue for the government.

The exchange listing describes it simply as “a corporation owned by Costa Ricans, offering electricity and telecommunications solutions.” There are no private shareholders and no free float; ICE raises money in the capital markets by issuing bonds, not shares.

Who runs it

The executive president — the position equivalent to CEO — is Marco Acuña, who has been confirmed in the role through 2030. He holds an electrical engineering degree and a master’s in the same discipline from the University of Costa Rica, plus an MBA from Edinburgh Business School.

The finance manager (CFO equivalent) is Keiner Arce, who has been the public face of the group’s financial results. The board chairman is Marco Acuña Mora, with his directorial term running from May 2022 to May 2026.

The money, in plain words

ICE’s 2024 revenues were ₡1,540,256 million (~$3.42 billion), a 4% rise on 2023. Those revenues represented 3.1% of Costa Rica’s entire GDP.

ICE keeps about 4.5 colones of net profit from every 100 colones of sales — a net profit margin of 4.5%, thin by corporate standards but a genuine turnaround for a utility that was deep in the red just a few years ago (our calculation).

The group has posted positive net results in every year since 2022; in 2023 it hit a record net result of ₡278,425 million. It also doubled its short-term liquidity ratio — the ability to cover near-term bills with near-term cash — from 1.0 in 2020 to 2.2 in 2024.

During the current administration, ICE cut its financial debt by ₡729,734 million against its two-year-prior level, a reduction of 24%.

Its regulated debt ratio stood at 30% in 2024, well below the 45% ceiling set by law. In November 2024, Moody’s upgraded ICE’s international rating from Ba3 with positive outlook to Ba2 with stable outlook.

In February 2025, Fitch affirmed its international rating at BB with positive outlook, while the local rating held at AA+.

What it is doing now

The group’s financial stability was tested in 2024 by the El Niño weather phenomenon; between 2023 and 2024, ICE spent ₡282,194 million (~$627M) importing electricity from the regional grid and buying fuel for thermal generation. Despite that drag, it ended the year profitable.

In a landmark capital-markets move, ICE returned to the international bond market after an eight-year absence with a $300 million sustainability-linked senior note at 6.75%, maturing 2031.

The incoming administration of President-elect Laura Fernández confirmed Acuña would continue to lead the group, citing institutional strength and results. ICE’s current strategic roadmap runs to 2027 and is focused on sustainability and competitiveness across its electricity and telecoms businesses.

What to watch

• 5G spectrum. President Rodrigo Chaves instructed ICE’s leadership to resolve the long-running debate over 5G frequency allocations — spectrum currently held by ICE — that has left Costa Rica without a commercial 5G network. This is unfinished business for the new government too.
• Electricity tariffs. ICE’s rates are set by ARESEP, not by management; any regulatory move on tariffs flows straight to the revenue line, which is unusually transparent and unusually out of the company’s control.
• Debt currency mix. The share of dollar-denominated debt fell from 68% in 2020 to 46% in 2025, reducing exchange-rate risk — but nearly half the debt load still moves with the dollar/colón rate.
• Renewables investment. ICE’s generation is heavily hydro-dependent and seasonal; dry years force expensive thermal and import spending, as 2024 proved, making capacity diversification a financial as much as an environmental imperative.

This is news, not investment advice.