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Electricity

More than 97% of power restored after 1.5 million users were affected

Editorial illustration for “More than 97% of power restored after 1.5 million users were affected”
Illustration éditoriale En Colombie

Updated August 16, 2026 at 4:05 a.m. Colombia time

More than 1.5 million users initially lost electricity across seven departments. At 7:58 p.m. on August 15, the Mines and Energy Ministry said more than 97% of affected users had service again.

Seven departments affected

Outages reached Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Caldas, Quindío, Cauca and Nariño. The ministry says work continues to the last home, without a departmental breakdown.

More than half of local users

At 5:55 p.m., EMCALI reported an interruption affecting more than 50% of its users in Cali, Yumbo and Puerto Tejada.

Circuits and transformers damaged

The utility counted about 63 affected circuits, damage to more than 25 transformers and damage to poles and networks.

Two different scales

The above-97% rate is nationwide. EMCALI did not publish a final restoration rate for the three cities in that message.

Sources and transparency