The amount that the Municipal Electric Companies (EEM) owe to the National Institute of Electrification (Inde) for the supply of electricity is not recognized by Quetzaltenango; while in the case of Zacapa, its new authorities affirm that when they took office last January, they found the debt, but without funds to pay.
According to Inde, at the end of 2015 the EEMs owed Q1,796.8 million, an amount that increased 77.3% as of March 5, when the figure already reached Q3,186 million.
This includes supply charges, interest and value added tax (VAT) as well as what is pending payment, already recognized by several EEMs that signed payment agreements, according to the report.
Quetzaltenango
Of the 13 EEMs that appear with a balance on that date, among those that owe the most is that of Quetzaltenango with Q1,701.3 million, and Amílcar Rivas, municipal general manager of Quetzaltenango, responded in writing that the Municipality of Quetzaltenango within its accounting records It does not have debt registered in favor of Inde.
And he states that this is because “legally, Inde lacks legal support to justify a debt for the exorbitant amounts such as those it alleges, highlighting that it incorrectly and harmfully intends to apply spot rate prices without prior consent from the municipality.” of Quetzaltenango.”
He added that the problem is generated “by the unilateral decision of Inde, to increase the prices of energy and power without having agreed on such amounts with the Municipality of Quetzaltenango”, for which he refers that there is an alteration of the contractual relationship signed since the year 1978 and which was valid until 2019.
It also states that this action was carried out arbitrarily because Inde did not have the authorization of the regulatory entity, which is the National Electric Energy Commission (CNEE).
According to the Institute’s data, the figure registered as a debt from the EEM of Quetzaltenango includes the supply until April 2009; the balance from March 2018 to December 2019 for the 8 megawatts of a contract that dates back to 1978; in addition to the balance of the debt for the megawatts supplied by Inde outside of that contract (to cover all of the municipality’s energy demand), which is the highest amount of the three for Q1 thousand 629.8 million from 2009 to December 2019.
Meanwhile, Rivas states in his responses that since 1997, the Institute has defined the energy rate for its non-regulated services (rate for block sale of energy to municipal electric companies) and that said rate was “established by Inde itself for the collection of energy and power from unregulated municipal electric companies as in the case of Quetzaltenango” and “illegally, the Institute did not apply it to the case of Quetzaltenango.”
The case of Zacapa
Meanwhile, the mayor of Zacapa and manager of the EEM of that place, Karen Xiomara Ovalle Madrid, said that they found a debt from the EEM for Q334 million 105 thousand 990.83.
The Inde registry indicates that the amount updated as of March 5, 2024 is Q343 million 157 thousand 860.
When the mayor was asked what she attributes the accumulation of this debt to, she said that the authorities of previous administrations canceled the monthly payment that must be made to Inde and over the years, the debt “was increasing due to the poor management of the resources and excessive purchases during the last two years.”
Meanwhile, according to the Institute’s records, the EEM of Puerto Barrios owes Q470 million, which represents the second highest amount after that reported to the EEM of Quetzaltenango. The position of the municipality of Puerto Barrios was sought, however they did not respond.
Forgive the debt?
Regarding a bill presented in Congress by Congressman Faver Salazar to forgive the balance of debts for this concept as of January 31, 2024, Rivas indicated that this commune fully supports any initiative that benefits the end user. .
And he explained that since 2019 there has been a current contract with Inde, which “is fully respected and complied with in each of its clauses,” adding that each electric company has a different scenario in relation to the regularization of its operations, and that in the case of Quetzaltenango, with the signing of the contract in question “the regularization process is denoted.”
While Ovalle, mayor of Zacapa, said that she supports the initiative to forgive the debt, which “would help a lot, not to the municipal electric companies that unfortunately have not had good administrators, but to the citizens who, with great effort, pay their respective bills monthly. payments for energy consumption.”
The mayor’s responses were also sent in writing through the municipality’s social communication link.
“There have been abuses”
Edwin Escobar, who presided over the National Association of Municipalities (Anam) and was the representative of that entity before the Inde Board of Directors from 2016 to 2020 and served as vice president, indicates that in that period the debts with all municipalities were confirmed, including that of Quetzaltenango.
“The debts are supported with information from Inde. At that time there were large balances, particularly that of Xela, and the entity worked on measures such as the recognition and recovery of the debt through payment agreements and achieving its regularization,” he assured.
The problem detected is that after the part of energy distribution that was in charge of Inde was privatized, some municipalities with municipal electric companies decided not to pay that entity and the funds were used to provide other services such as water and lighting. public.
In the case of Quetzaltenango, he says that they got the population used to it and there was no social culture for paying services and debt continued to accumulate. And in several EEMs there were abuses by municipal authorities who decided not to pay Inde’s bills, confident that it would not cut off their supply. “If Inde acted like distributors do when the user does not pay them, they would have to comply,” he said.
So, in his opinion there is a lot of disorder, apart from the fact that there was a bad policy by the previous government in letting its guard down on this issue.
Resources for investment
When consulted the Minister of Energy and Mines (MEM), who also presides over Inde, Víctor Hugo Ventura, about the aforementioned intention of condonation, he said that they are going to listen to the proposal, but considers that there is an issue of inequality because with those Q3 thousand million that are owed, half of the population that does not have electricity in the country can be electrified.
Then, he explained that “one question is whether it is fair or healthy to continue in this operation of the municipal electric companies. I think not and what is missing is a good dialogue with the mayors and with the companies to find an intermediate solution.”
The former director of Inde states that this entity already bears the cost of the contribution and subsidy to the social rate in general and the cost of these debts continuing to rise. “What is being sacrificed is Inde, since they are reducing its resources to expand the power of its generation plants and even invest in new ones.”
In his opinion, with those Q3.1 billion, plants such as Chixoy, Jurún Marinalá and all the productive assets of Inde can be repowered, as well as expand the transmission networks, apart from the fact that “the generation of Inde cannot be lost.” .
The problem is that if Inde does not have enough energy to supply the EMMs, it has to go out and buy it and sometimes, more expensive than what these companies charge users and what they would pay to the institute, he added.
Figures by EEM
- According to the Inde report, the EEM debt amounted to Q3,186 million as of March 5, 2024.
- Only the EEM of Quetzaltenango owes Q1,701.3 million.
- They are followed by the EEM of Puerto Barrios (Izabal) with Q470 million; the EEM of Zacapa, Q343 million and others with variable balances; Jalapa, Q186.6 million; Gualán (Zacapa), Q178.2 million; Huehuetenango, Q120.8 million; and Guastatoya (El Progreso), Q113.7 million.
- The rest of the communes have balances ranging from Q2.7 million to Q50.9 million. Even of the 14 listed by Inde, the EEM of Playa Grande (Ixcán) is the only one that has a zero balance.
- The total amount of debt includes Q585 million of debt recognition from seven EEMs, reaching the total reported by Inde.
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