Versión Español
EspañolColombia’s new Minister of Mines and Energy of Colombia, Maria Lorena Gutiérrez, said that there will be power cuts in the country in two weeks time if energy savings don’t reach between 5 percent and 10 percent of current consumption levels.
Gutiérrez also said that a failure to regulate energy consumption has brought about today’s energy crisis.
“70% of consumption is in homes and small businesses,” explained the minister.
She added that there will be incentives and penalties for those who save or waste energy. “People will care because they will be rewarded, but if they overspend the charges can double.”
Gutiérrez claimed that the government had handled the energy problems related to El Niño well, but that it had not foreseen two accidents at large energy plants and high levels of energy consumption in January and February.
Colombia faces a major crisis in the energy sector due to the drastic decline in the volumes of dammed water. This led to the resignation on March 7 of the Mines and Energy Minister, Tomás González
[adrotate group=”7″]President Juan Manuel Santos publicly accepted the minister’s resignation announcement and also presented a plan for energy saving in order to prevent blackouts.
González’s resignation was also caused by the Attorney General’s decision to open an investigation against the former minister regarding the signing of several contracts with the company Connecta, which belongs to his family.
Source: América Economía.
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