By EntreMundos<\/p>\n
The controversy over electricity is one of the most important in Guatemala, though it does not affect the country\u2019s largest cities. One on side, Energuate and the government say that customers who are \u2018in resistance\u2019 are stealing electricity through illegal connections that are responsible for poor service and the blackouts that are increasingly common. They say that those who encourage the population to make these illegal connections are criminals who are charging for the connections. Meanwhile, communities throughout Energuate\u2019s operating zone say that poor service predated the direct connections and that they can\u2019t afford the bills from Energuate, an electricty distributor whose majority owner is Actis Capital, an English private equity firm. It operates a monopoly in 86% of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n At least 160,000 of Energuate\u2019s 1.6 million customers are \u2018in resistance\u2019;\u00a0 <\/span>they\u2019ve reconnected themselves around Energuate\u2019s meters and no longer pay the company. Many see a foreign company abusing the poor rural population, whose wages often don\u2019t allow them even basic nutrition. There are 16 municipal distributors like Xela\u2019s; Energuate operates primarily in rural areas where rates of poverty and illiteracy are especially high. Activists and movement leaders have been kidnapped, incarcerated, and even killed demanding the nationalization of electricity distribution, so that the state instead of private capital would profit from citizens\u2019 electricity payments. In October, 2012, for example, near Alaska, Totonicap\u00e1n, the army shot and killed eight peaceful demonstrators in a protest against Energuate\/Actis and in favor of nationalization, and against unrelated legal reforms.<\/span><\/p>\n Actis Capital bought the distributors DEORSA-DEOCSA in 2011 from the Spanish firm Uni\u00f3n Fenosa and changed their names to Energuate. In the 90s, electricity distribution was nationalized. A distributor buys energy from producers, pays transport companies, maintains cables, substations, and wirepoles, connects customers to existing infrastructure, monitors their energy use, and charges them. Rural electrification and infrastructure expansion (apart from wireposts) is the responsibility of the government, as is the publicly funded discount that 95% of Guatemalans receive; the distributor collects both from customers and from public coffers. Privatization was supposed to lower costs and improve service, but after 20 years, the results are mixed at best. Energuate runs a very profitable business; Actis paid $449 million for DEORSA-DEOCSA in 2011, while Uni\u00f3n Fenosa paid $101 million in 1999. CODECA estimates Energuate\u2019s annual revenue at over $300,000,000. (Energuate told Entremundos that that was too high, but not by how much..)<\/span><\/p>\n The two foreign distributors in Guatemala, EESGA and Energuate, operate monopolies; EEGSA operates in the two departments where Energuate does not. EEGSA is owned by the Medell\u00edn Public Corporation (EPM), a Colombian public utility that contributes a large portion of Medell\u00edn\u2019s city budget. Actis is private, but still pays dividends to the British government for past investments. Members of the resistance point out that conflict is only occurring where Energuate operates.<\/span><\/p>\n Communities generally make the decision to declare themselves \u2018in resistance\u2019 through popular assemblies and announce their decision through sheets and banners at the entrances of their communities. Energuate\u2019s most common reaction is to cut electricity to the community (which can last months) and negotiate. When it\u2019s a larger town, as has happened repeatedly, Energuate cuts power for certain hours. The communities tolerate this until they reach an agreement with Energuate, which often involves a reduction in the back-payments demanded by Energuate. The government has mainly focused its efforts on confronting two organizations: CODECA and Frena (Front of Resistance for the Defense of Natural Resources and Communities\u2019 Rights, from San Marcos). Frena became involved in 2008 when, after years of rising costs and poor service, a blackout on December 24 caused social unrest that lasted so long that in November 2009 President Colom declared a State of Emergency in several cities.<\/span><\/p>\n Entremundos sent this commentary and other questions about CODECA\u2019s perspective to Energuate three weeks before publish. In summary, they said that: there are so many communities \u2018in resistance\u2019 because this is profitable for CODECA and others who charge for illegal connections and sometimes use intimidation; Energuate didn\u2019t collect Q200,000,000 that it was owed in 2014; it\u00a0 <\/span>has invested Q500,000,000 in infrastructure in three years; the government establishes the maximum that distributors can charge; six of ten customers pay more for public lighting than their own use, and this charge is set by local authorities; 60,000 customers reconnected with Energuate in 2014; the supposed \u2018kidnapping\u2019 of CODECA members has been on the part of community members fed up with poor service caused by illegal connections; and that \u2018the social unrest comes from social demands that the government doesn\u2019t attend to.\u2019 On this point, the two sides agree. Energuate did not respond to the rest of the information in time for publication.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By EntreMundos The controversy over electricity is one of the most important in Guatemala, though it does not affect the country\u2019s largest cities. One on side, Energuate and the government say that customers who are \u2018in resistance\u2019 are stealing electricity through illegal connections that are responsible for poor service and the blackouts that are increasingly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[425,426,424],"tags":[35,548,55,65,560],"class_list":["post-2637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-action-en-2","category-corruption","category-politics","tag-codeca","tag-electricity","tag-energuate","tag-guatemala","tag-guatemala-en"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/plantoncortesupremadejusticia.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-Gx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3816,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized\/biofuels-and-climate-change-exacerbate-guatemalas-stunning-inequality-and-poor-farmers-are-fighting-back\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":2637,"position":0},"title":"On Guatemala\u2019s Pacific Coast, key drivers of migration are connected to the US","author":"EntreMundos","date":"3 enero, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The US market for sugarcane and bananas has encouraged plantation owners on Guatemala\u2019s Pacific Coast to drain rivers and grab land. This is causing land and water shortages for small farmers already struggling with intense droughts linked to climate change and corn from the US that devalues their harvests. Meanwhile,\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCommunity Action\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Community Action","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/community-action-en-2\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/catarino-lopez.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/catarino-lopez.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/catarino-lopez.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/catarino-lopez.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/catarino-lopez.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1845,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/energuates-internal-crisis\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":2637,"position":1},"title":"Energuate’s internal crisis","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 noviembre, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By Richard Brown and Patricia Mac\u00edas - EntreMundos correspondents. September, 2015 The electricity distributor Energuate (Doecsa-Deorsa) and its majority shareholder, Actis Capital, a British private equity firm that bought a 90% share in Deocsa-Deorsa in 2012, have a new and serious internal problem. \u00a0 For years, Energuate has had to\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abAlternative Economy\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Alternative Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/economy\/alternative-economy\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/energuate.jpg?fit=1200%2C736&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/energuate.jpg?fit=1200%2C736&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/energuate.jpg?fit=1200%2C736&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/energuate.jpg?fit=1200%2C736&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/energuate.jpg?fit=1200%2C736&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2505,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/repression-against-codeca-the-criminalization-of-organization\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":2637,"position":2},"title":"Repression against CODECA: The criminalization of\u00a0organization","author":"EntreMundos","date":"31 marzo, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Leiria Vay -- Comunicadora social de CODECA EM: See the Editorial Note for context. Threats and murder sow terror and uncertainty, and in Guatemala, these don\u2019t just belong to the past, but are current practices that every day leave more victims in Guatemala. The elite, with the participation or\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCommunity Action\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Community Action","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/community-action-en-2\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/codecasemocochii.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/codecasemocochii.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/codecasemocochii.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/codecasemocochii.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4151,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/community-action-en-2\/the-work-of-assassinated-codeca-leader-luis-marroquin\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":2637,"position":3},"title":"The work of assassinated CODECA leader Luis Marroqu\u00edn","author":"EntreMundos","date":"16 junio, 2018","format":"video","excerpt":"Learn about the work of Luis Marroqu\u00edn, a Xinca organizer from Jalapa, Guatemala, who was the Jalapa regional coordinator of the Committee for Campesino Development (CODECA). He was killed on May 9, 2018, one of seven indigenous human rights activists murdered in 30 days in Guatemala. CODECA is best known\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCommunity Action\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Community Action","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/community-action-en-2\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sam_1092.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sam_1092.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sam_1092.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sam_1092.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sam_1092.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6138,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/alternative-economy\/testament-to-survival-cotzals-artists-endure-pressures-new-and-old\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":2637,"position":4},"title":"Testament to survival: Cotzal\u2019s artists endure pressures new and old","author":"EntreMundos","date":"29 enero, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By: Richard Brown Guatemala is internationally renowned for producing some of the most beautiful textiles in the world, and the women of the Maya Ixil town of Cotzal, in Quich\u00e9, produce some of the country\u2019s most dazzling patterns. Their art is a testament to survival. The Tejidos Cotzal cooperative, for\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abAlternative Economy\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Alternative Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/economy\/alternative-economy\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10543557_1446958305605518_8490480289855592172_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C826&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10543557_1446958305605518_8490480289855592172_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C826&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10543557_1446958305605518_8490480289855592172_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C826&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10543557_1446958305605518_8490480289855592172_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C826&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10543557_1446958305605518_8490480289855592172_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C826&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6089,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/megaprojects\/repression-against-good-living-the-struggle-of-human-rights-defenders\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":2637,"position":5},"title":"REPRESSION AGAINST GOOD LIVING. The struggle of human rights defenders","author":"EntreMundos","date":"23 enero, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By: Leiria Vay Between 2018 and 2019, 16 human rights defenders who exercised leadership in different organizational structures of the Farmers Development Committee (Comit\u00e9 de Desarrollo Campesino, CODECA) were assassinated. All of them worked to defend the individual and collective rights of peoples in the territory and communities. 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