What Orlando Caballero Díaz published lacks veracity, contains insults typical of a low street fight, and does not correspond to the hierarchy of an opinion article that respects the level of his respectable media outlet. The provision of electric power service by Air-e and its rates strictly comply with the provisions of Laws 142 and 143 of 1994.
The Energy and Gas Regulation Commission establishes the tariff formula that responds to the criteria set by the legislator in article 87 of Law 142 of 1994, seeking that the tariffs respond to the principle of financial sufficiency to guarantee continuity and efficiency in the provision of the service. In this way, the variables that are charged by Air-e to its users correspond to those established by the CREG, in strict compliance with the provisions of the resolutions that are applicable to all electric power resellers.
The national Government, through the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the CREG, has recognized that the increase in tariffs has had as its main cause the upward trend of the Producer Price Index (“IPP”), an index that impacted the generation component and restrictions, mainly. This trend is, in turn, the product of the global economic crisis and the inflationary situation that Colombia is going through.
The columnist hides and omits that the company led several proposals before the national government for the CREG to issue resolutions that would alleviate the rate increases. These actions were reflected in the billing of November 2022, which had a decrease as a result of Air-e’s management in the renegotiation of energy prices and its indexers with the generators, but also in a decrease in charges. distribution and marketing. Air-e has also been assuming an additional cash effort, to support with its own equity the rise in some of the components that are part of the entire electric power service provision chain.
Regarding the measurement of user consumption, it is done taking into account the specific rules established by both the legislator and the regulator, depending on the users and the particularities of the provision of the service for each of them. them.
Consumption is the main component of the price charged to the user, as provided by Law 142 of 1994. However, the columnist is unaware, in an unjustifiable ignorance of the regulatory framework that regulates the provision of the service, that the law , regulatory decrees and regulation allow billing to be done by estimating consumption in some cases. Therefore, when Air-e does so, it is not violating the rules that are applicable to it, strictly applying what is legally permitted by the legal system.
With the entry into operation of Air-e a, the customer service channels were also expanded to be able to know all their concerns and resolve them as soon as possible, in which a greater effort will also be made to improve. To this end, service hours were extended to Saturdays until 1 pm, new offices were opened, the call center was expanded and the following virtual channels were made available 24 hours a day: [email protected], 3045206061@Air-eEnergiaCo, aire_energia, @air-e.
The information from the customer service records reflects that, as of November 2022, the average customer service time is eleven minutes. The average response time for PQRs is twelve days. The average resolution in the first contact is 26% and inappropriate responses are reviewed by the company and the Superintendence of Residential Public Services, respecting the procedural terms of the law.
Regarding this assessment, the first thing that should be clarified is that, by the time Air-e took over the operation of the Atlantic, La Guajira and Magdalena markets, the provision of the public electricity service in said departments was in a state of critical. Up to the point where the continuity of the provision of this residential public service was at real risk.
In the takeover of Electricaribe, the SSPD evidenced the lack of investment in the infrastructure, the high degree of obsolescence of assets, the poor quality of service and deficient customer service.
Today, according to official figures, the region enjoys the best energy service in its history in compliance with the regulation that establishes applicable goals for all operators in the country. In the case of Air-e, in 2025 it should reach a SAIFI (times the service goes down) of 61.06 times and a SAIDI (duration each time the service goes down) of 76.08 hours. In simple terms and with pride, it is possible to affirm that in the first year (2021) the company exceeded the goal established in terms of quality for the fifth year (2025) by achieving improvements of 49.10% and 40.44% in these indicators, respectively, compared to the reference indicator.
It is necessary to communicate that from October 1, 2020 to date, the company has not decreed or distributed dividends in cash or in kind, nor has it constituted or distributed statutory or occasional reserves as dividends, as validated by the tax auditor, and in contrast to the lying insults of the columnist, Air-e has invested approximately 1 billion pesos to date to improve the quality of service, which is evidenced in the duly audited financial statements.
Finally, we request the publication of this response out of respect for the veracity and objectivity of the information for public opinion. In relation to the unlawful and disvaluable action of the columnist, it will be another legal scenario where this debate must be waged.
* Special ownership of AIR-E SASESP