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Colombia Utilities
In 1987 both national and local governments provided
basic
utility services, including water and electricity. In the
case of
water and sewerage services, the system was simple in
design and
basically incapable of meeting the needs of the country.
Water and
sewerage services were coordinated in urban areas by the
Departmental and Municipal Sanitary Works (Empresa de
Obras
Sanitarias Departamentales y Municipales) and in rural
areas by the
National Institute of Health (Instituto Nacional de
Salud). Quality
and area of service covered, however, varied markedly.
Only 60 percent of Colombia's inhabitants had access to
some
type of water supply, and only 49 percent were served by a
sewerage
system. As might be suspected, the major urban areas had
the most
comprehensive systems, with 85 percent of the population
having
access to potable water and 75 percent to sewerage
facilities.
Although efforts had been made to expand basic services,
in 1988
the lack of adequate facilities was still a major problem
in much
of Colombia.
A loose network of national and local companies
supplied
electricity to most rural areas. Two national companies,
the
Colombian Institute of Electric Energy (Instituto
Colombiano de
Energía Eléctrica--Icel) and the Caribbean Coast Electric
Corporation (Corporación Eléctrica de la Costa
Atlántica--Corelca),
produced most of Colombia's electricity. Regional
companies, such
as the Cauca Autonomous Regional Corporation (Corporación
Autónoma
Regional del Cauca--Cvc), and municipal organizations,
including
the Medellín Public Works (Empresas Públicas de
Medellín--Eeppm)
and the Bogotá Electric Energy Enterprise (Empresa de
Energía
Eléctrica de Bogotá--EEEB), produced their own electricity
while
acting as connectors to the national system. In its
entirety, the
national electric system was known as the Electric
Interconnection
Company (Interconexión Eléctrica S.A.--ISA) and had
headquarters in
Medellín.
Icel was the largest electricity company in 1987. It
produced
one-third of all national electricity and served fifteen
departments through thirteen subsidiary plants. Corelca,
the second
largest, provided electricity to six coastal departments,
as well
as to Isla de San Andrés and Isla de Providencia. EEEB
serviced
much of Cundinamarca, including all of Bogotá.
Installed electric capacity as of June 1987 was 8.1
gigawatts.
Seventy-six percent was provided by hydroelectric plants,
with the
remainder produced by thermoelectric projects. Electricity
output
met only 8 percent of total energy requirements in 1987,
however,
whereas petroleum, natural gas, and coal provided 57
percent, 14
percent, and 21 percent, respectively. Consumption was
greatest in
the residential sector, which accounted for 49 percent of
demand,
followed by industry with 28 percent, the public sector
with 12
percent, and the commercial sector with 11 percent.
Although the expansion of electricity works placed
enormous
strains on financial resources, Colombia was proceeding
with the
development of new hydroelectric projects. More than 800
megawatts
were added to the country's generating capacity in 1987;
loans from
development agencies provided needed capital to continue
expansion
into remote areas, such as the Amazon.
Data as of December 1988
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