Relationship with the Public Utilities Sector

For EPM, businesses that provide public utilities or connections, either in Colombia or abroad, and whose interactions with EPM are not competitive within a market, are considered to be colleagues.

Within this group, there are public utility companies in the energy and water sectors and companies engaged in other activities related to EPM’s activities, such as those companies that are involved in the intensive use of natural resources or that provide services to low-income populations.

In this context, relationships with Colleagues are outlined in the following guidelines for action:

Sustainability is understood as the set of economic, social and environmental conditions that favor the permanence and development of a company in a mutually beneficial business-society relationship. Responsible, shared, and collaborative action must be undertaken with colleagues to deal with structural environmental problems and must take into consideration the social and economic environmental conditions in which they operate. This may be developed through a possible sector agreement on sustainability

For EPM, sector development is a mechanism to strengthen relationships with stakeholders and would be developed through technical cooperation and the management of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Relative to cooperation, EPM will maintain its offer of technical cooperation with colleagues, sharing its knowledge and supporting the technical and institutional strengthening of its national and international colleagues.

In relation to the management of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, EPM will undertake collaborative work with colleagues in order to better exploit available resources for technological development, innovation and entrepreneurship in respect of water and energy.

This management activity seeks collaborative actions among colleagues in order to follow up, analyze and manage regulatory programs with potential impact on the public utilities sector at different levels of the State. In this respect, EPM will participate in the formulation of national and local public policies that impact the public utilities sector, either to favor the development of society or to guarantee the sustainability of the company.

The scope of this activity implies studying the impact of proposals using technical criteria, exploiting opportunities in this regard, and proposing policy alternatives that contribute to the development of the sector and the communities served by EPM.

In addition, it will participate, using technical and sustainability arguments, in discussions on regulatory proposals being processed by different state agencies (regulators and legislators) at both central and territorial levels, prioritizing initiatives that require management in accordance with established criteria and coordinating its participation with colleagues through associations determined by the company.

One of the main platforms for the development of the actions described above is professional bodies and associations. For this reason, EPM maintains an active participation in the principal professional associations relating to public utilities in the country: ANDESCO, ASOCODIS, ACOLGEN AND NATURGAS. This participation is based on a collegiate relationship with national companies in the sector for the purpose of building knowledge and the promulgation of joint initiatives in legislative, regulatory and public policy matters before State bodies and competent organizations, when they relate to priority issues for domestic public utilities that are supported technically, legally and economically by EPM.

EPM also maintains active membership in the principal national and regional councils and committees that specialize in energy issues in order to discuss, evaluate and manage technical and academic sector initiatives. Among these bodies, the following are emphasized:

  • The Commission for Regional Energy Integration (CIER – COCIER)
  • The National Council for Electricity and Gas Operation – CNO 
  • The Consultative Committee on Commercialization – CAC
  • The Consultative Committee on Transmission Planning – CAPT
  • The Corporate Center for Research and Technological Development in the Electricity Sector – CIDET

For several years, EPM has articulated its involvement with international trends in regard to sustainability in the water, energy and CSR sectors, through its ties to global networks. This is in order to measure and manage the large issues that impact sustainability within a comprehensive focus, and from the point of view of the provision of the service, social well-being, the challenges, and the means of addressing them. In this plan, the link between EPM and professional and global associations is notable. There are links with the World Council on Energy, the International Hydroelectric Association and the International Water Association, among others, that converge on sector issues that are of broad interest to the company. EPM likewise forms part of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the reference institution in issues concerning sustainability and in which around 200 companies participate by invitation only. Also notable is the active link with the roundtables of the regional Colombian Global Compact network, in which EPM has worked directly on Human Rights and Anticorruption issues.