Gustavo Petro's government issued an emergency decree requiring electricity generators to contribute 2.5% of their pre-tax profits and 12% of their sold energy to intervened companies. The measure aims to raise funds for the 2026 general budget but has drawn criticism from the sector for distorting the market and discouraging investments. The president defended it by stating that generators' rents come from speculations burdening consumers.
The Ministry of Finance issued a decree under the economic emergency to raise $12 trillion of the $16.3 trillion needed after the financing bill sank in Congress. This regulation affects hydraulic electricity generation companies in the Wholesale Energy Market with centralized dispatch.
The 2.5% parafiscal contribution applies to pre-tax profits for the 2025 fiscal year and will be paid in two installments: February 2, 2026 (1.25%, based on 2024 financial statements) and May 15, 2026 (1.25%, based on 2025). Additionally, generators must deliver 12% of the energy actually sold in the exchange, distributed proportionally to companies intervened by the Superintendence of Public Utilities, with monthly settlement.
President Gustavo Petro defended the measure on his X account: "Here they say it's confiscatory a 2.5% rate on the utilities of an electric generator, when the utilities are true rents of speculation extracted from the pockets of all Colombian families." He added: "generators confiscate people's income when, being hydraulic, very low cost, they charge tariffs as if they were imported gas, 10 times more expensive."
However, the Colombian Association of Energy Generators (Acolgen) and the National Association of Generating Companies (Andeg) criticized the decree. Alejandro Castañeda, president of Andeg, stated: "The energy compensation imposed on hydraulic generators introduces market distortions, regulatory improvisation, and account crossings that do not offer real solutions to the problems of service provision in the Caribbean region." Acolgen noted that the measure hinders investments and financing, with XM estimating a 3.5% firm energy deficit for 2027, requiring up to $13 trillion annually for supply.
Hemberth Suárez, managing partner of OGE Energy, described the energy delivery as "a disguised expropriation." The government plans to extend the economic emergency to seek more funds.
