In Medellín, EPM supplies electricity, water and gas; in Bogotá, Enel Colombia supplies electricity, the Acueducto (EAAB) water and Grupo Vanti gas. At Colombia Desk, we help foreigners navigate lease obligations and property purchases so utility bills are handled properly from day one.
Renters typically pay the invoices that arrive at the property address, with owners and occupants sharing joint legal liability under national public utility law. When you buy, Ley 142 hands the property’s utility contracts to you unless the sale contract says otherwise, and you then ask each company to put the account in your name.
How Utilities Work When You Rent or Buy in Colombia
Under Article 130 of Ley 142 de 1994, the property owner, the subscriber, and the physical users of the service share joint liability for financial obligations under the utility contract.
Under Article 15 of Ley 820 de 2003, landlords who require tenants to pay utilities can demand a deposit or guarantee. This guarantee cannot exceed the total value of two consecutive billing periods. The statute calculates this cap using the property’s fixed charges, connection fees, and an average consumption figure taken from the preceding three billing periods plus 50 percent. Once the landlord files the lease contract and the guarantees with EPM, Enel, EAAB or Grupo Vanti, the real estate itself stops being liable for future unpaid consumption incurred by the tenant.
Under Article 129 of Ley 142 de 1994, when urban property is sold, all its home utility contracts pass to the buyer by law unless the sale contract says otherwise. You then ask each company to put your name on the account (see Changing the Account Holder Name After Buying Property below).
| City | Electricity Provider | Water and Sewer Provider | Natural Gas Provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medellín and Valle de Aburrá | Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) | Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) | Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) |
| Bogotá D.C. | Enel Colombia | Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá (EAAB) | Grupo Vanti |
For home internet and TV, see our guide to internet and cable TV in Colombia.
How to Pay Utility Bills in Colombia
You pay each bill to the company that sends it. Online, you can pay by PSE bank debit, through your bank’s online branch, or in the EPM and EAAB apps. In person, you can pay at banks, Red CADE centers in Bogotá and some supermarkets.
Enel, Grupo Vanti and EAAB take online payments through PSE (Pagos Seguros en Línea), which pays from a Colombian bank account. If you do not have a Colombian bank account, review our steps for how to open a bank account in Colombia.
| Provider | Online Payment Options | In-Person Payment Channels |
|---|---|---|
| EPM (Medellín) | epm.com.co portal, “Estamos ahí” app, your bank’s online branch | Authorized collection centers |
| Enel Colombia (Bogotá) | PSE on enel.com.co, online banking, wallets (Nequi, Daviplata, Movii, RappiPay, T-paga, MiPagoAmigo), automatic debit | Redeban self-service points in supermarkets (debit card) |
| Grupo Vanti (Bogotá) | PSE and Botón Bancolombia on grupovanti.com, your bank app, automatic debit | BBVA, Scotiabank Colpatria, Grupo Aval and Davivienda correspondents, Red CADE, GNB Sudameris, Metro, Jumbo and Éxito stores |
| EAAB (Bogotá) | acueducto.com.co Oficina Virtual (PSE), EAAB ESP app, bank digital channels, Citibank “Mis pagos al día” | Red CADE, EAAB office at Calle 24 #37-15 (card), Servibanca, Redeban and ATH networks, Davivienda, Banco de Bogotá and AV Villas points, Popular, Sudameris and Itaú offices |
EAAB collects payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. EPM says a payment can post at once or take 24 to 48 business hours.
Enel Colombia lets you set up automatic debit through Bancolombia, Davivienda, Itaú, BBVA and Banco Caja Social, so you do not have to pay each bill by hand.
How Estratos Change Utility Tariffs
Residential utility billing in Colombia is structured around a statutory socioeconomic classification system known as estratos. Under Article 102 of Ley 142 de 1994, all residential dwellings fall into one of six brackets:
- Estrato 1: Bajo-bajo
- Estrato 2: Bajo
- Estrato 3: Medio-bajo
- Estrato 4: Medio
- Estrato 5: Medio-alto
- Estrato 6: Alto
This classification dictates whether your household pays a statutory surcharge or receives a rate discount on metered consumption. Under Article 89 of Ley 142 de 1994, homes in estratos 5 and 6 and industrial and commercial users pay a solidarity contribution (contribución de solidaridad). The law caps this contribution at 20 percent of the actual service value. The bill must display this surcharge as a separate line item. Utility providers collect these funds and apply them to subsidize basic services for estratos 1 to 3.
Article 99.6 of Ley 142 de 1994 originally capped the subsidy at 50 percent of average supply cost for estrato 1, 40 percent for estrato 2 and 15 percent for estrato 3. The October 2026 EPM and Enel tariff sheets show larger discounts for estratos 1 and 2 than those original caps; which rule sets today’s percentages was not confirmed. Properties classified as estrato 4 occupy the neutral baseline: they get no subsidy and pay no solidarity contribution. For how estratos are assigned, see our guide to Colombia estratos.
Subsidies apply only up to a legally designated subsistence consumption threshold (consumo de subsistencia). The October 2026 EPM tariff sheet and Enel Colombia’s October 2026 tariff schedule set the subsistence limit at 130 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a month at altitudes of 1,000 meters or more. For territories below 1,000 meters, the threshold rises to 173 kWh per month. Because Medellín and Bogotá sit well above 1,000 meters, the 130 kWh limit applies to residential units in both cities. Above 130 kWh, Enel charged estratos 1 to 3 its full estrato 4 price of COP 990.5273 per kWh, and EPM charged estrato 3 its full COP 991.29.
| Socioeconomic Stratum | EPM Electricity Rate (COP/kWh) | Enel Colombia Electricity Rate (COP/kWh) | Legal Rate Structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estrato 1 | 427.04 (up to 130 kWh) | 411.2028 (up to 130 kWh) / 990.5273 (above 130 kWh) | Subsidized basic consumption block |
| Estrato 2 | 533.81 (up to 130 kWh) | 514.0035 (up to 130 kWh) / 990.5273 (above 130 kWh) | Subsidized basic consumption block |
| Estrato 3 | 842.59 (up to 130 kWh) / 991.29 (above 130 kWh) | 841.9482 (up to 130 kWh) / 990.5273 (above 130 kWh) | Subsidized basic consumption block |
| Estrato 4 | 991.29 (all consumption) | 990.5273 (all consumption) | Unsubsidized cost of service baseline |
| Estrato 5 | 1,189.54 (all consumption) | 1,188.6328 (all consumption) | Baseline rate plus 20 percent solidarity surcharge |
| Estrato 6 | 1,189.54 (all consumption) | 1,188.6328 (all consumption) | Baseline rate plus 20 percent solidarity surcharge |
These rates reflect Level 1 residential service using company-owned infrastructure for the October 2026 billing cycle. In addition to per-kilowatt rates, EPM billed a standard fixed charge (cargo fijo) of COP 9,611 on each October 2026 electricity statement.
Water and Natural Gas Rates
Water and natural gas tariffs follow a similar stratified model based on metered volume. Under Article 146 of Ley 142 de 1994, the company and the user both have a right to have consumption measured, and consumption is the main element of the price.
EPM’s October 2026 water and sewer tariff sheet for Medellín and its October 2026 gas tariff sheet for the Valle de Aburrá set these prices for October 2026 bills:
| Stratum | EPM Water Fixed Charge (COP) | EPM Water Rate (COP/m³) | EPM Gas Fixed Charge (COP) | EPM Gas Rate (COP/m³) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estrato 4 | 10,180.05 | 4,978.29 | 4,389.71 | 3,559.88 |
| Estrato 5 | 15,270.08 | 7,467.44 | 5,267.65 | 4,271.86 |
| Estrato 6 | 16,288.08 | 7,965.26 | 5,267.65 | 4,271.86 |
EPM bills sewer service separately from water. For October 2026 in Medellín, EPM billed estrato 4 sewer service at COP 3,945.17 per cubic meter. In estrato 3, EPM charged COP 4,356.00 per cubic meter of water for the first 13 m³ and COP 4,978.29 above that. EPM publishes a separate table for neighboring Envigado, where estrato 5 water cost COP 8,214.18 per cubic meter.
Natural gas tariffs published by EPM for the Valle de Aburrá in October 2026 show an identical 20 percent solidarity factor applied to upper brackets. Estrato 1 paid COP 1,605.53 per cubic meter of gas for its subsidized block of 0 to 20 m³.
Bogotá’s per-cubic-meter prices for EAAB water and Grupo Vanti gas were not confirmed for October 2026, so read them off your bill; EAAB and Grupo Vanti each explain their bill online. For household budgets, see our guides on the cost of living in Medellín and the cost of living in Bogotá.
Billing Cycles and Garbage Collection Charges
The Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá (EAAB) bills Bogotá water every two months, on reading periods of 58 to 62 days. A 28-to-32-day period counts as monthly billing. In February 2026, the Alcaldía de Bogotá reported that some users in Chapinero, Suba and Usaquén got a bill for less than two months while EAAB aligned its billing cycles. The Alcaldía said those properties would then return to the usual two-month cycle.
Under Article 147 of Ley 142 de 1994, when a single document bills multiple public utilities, each service must be totaled independently. Consumers have the right to pay individual services separately, with one statutory exception: municipal waste collection (aseo) and basic sanitation cannot be unbundled from the accompanying service bill.
An Alcaldía de Bogotá release from June 29, 2024 says about 950,000 of EAAB’s roughly 2.4 million customers (about 39 percent) get their aseo fee itemized on the water bill. Because waste operators bill every 30 days while EAAB meters on a 58- to 62-day cycle, some water bills show one month of aseo and others show two.
In Medellín, EPM does not provide waste collection. According to EPM customer service guidelines, residential garbage collection inside Medellín is handled by EMVARIAS (phone 604 70 50 00). In other municipalities, check the “cobro otras entidades” line on the bill.
Changing the Account Holder Name After Buying Property
After you buy, ask EPM, Enel, EAAB or Grupo Vanti to put the account in your name, a change EPM’s public utility dictionary calls a cambio de suscriptor.
Updating Account Records with EPM in Medellín
EPM’s FAQ page lists four ways to request a cambio de suscriptor:
- Submitting an online formal request (PQR) through the EPM web portal.
- Submitting an update through the online customer data registration form on epm.com.co.
- Calling the customer service line at 604 44 44 115 in Medellín, or 01 8000 415 115 nationally.
- Visiting an authorized in-person EPM customer service branch.
EPM’s FAQ page does not list the documents it asks for, so ask for the list when you call 604 44 44 115.
Updating Account Records with Enel Colombia in Bogotá
An Alcaldía de Bogotá article from March 1, 2024 says new owners send these documents to Enel Colombia by email to clientescolombia@enel.com or at an Enel service center:
- A copy of the owner’s cédula.
- A Certificado de Tradición y Libertad dated no more than 90 days prior to the request.
- Alternative acceptable ownership records: the most recent municipal property tax receipt (impuesto predial) showing payment, formal legal proof of possession, an official adjudication court ruling, or an active housing-leasing contract.
- An updated cadastral certificate (certificado catastral) no older than 60 days, required only if the physical municipal address does not match the address on Enel records.
To understand how to obtain and verify property title documents, review our step-by-step guide to the Certificado de Tradición y Libertad.
Updating Account Records with EAAB in Bogotá
EAAB only takes a name change in person. According to an Alcaldía de Bogotá article from March 1, 2024, buyers must present the following paperwork at an EAAB service center:
- A Certificado de Tradición y Libertad issued no more than 60 days before you file, or the specific matrícula inmobiliaria registration number.
- A copy of the owner’s cédula.
- Verification that the water account is fully paid up to date (a paz y salvo), with no outstanding arrears.
Updating Account Records with Grupo Vanti in Bogotá
Grupo Vanti takes requests to change the account holder online. On Grupo Vanti’s titularidad page, choose “Trámites en Línea” and then “Actualización de datos de titularidad.” That page sits in Grupo Vanti’s vehicle-gas section, and its document list could not be confirmed, so ask Grupo Vanti which ones it needs before you submit.
If you are buying, see our guide to how to buy property in Colombia.
Electrical System Standards
According to Concepto 246 de 2024 from the Comisión de Regulación de Energía y Gas (CREG), Colombia’s national grid (Sistema Interconectado Nacional, or SIN) runs at a nominal 60.00 hertz (Hz). Resolution CREG 025 of 1995 set that frequency.
Under CREG rules, Level 1 (Nivel 1) covers distribution systems operating below 1 kilovolt (1 kV), and it is the level the EPM and Enel residential rates above are quoted for. This CREG concept does not state household voltage or plug type, and neither was confirmed from an official source, so check the rating label on any appliance you bring.
Next Steps for Setting Up Your Home
Once you sign a lease or close on a purchase, get the latest electricity, water and gas bills from the prior occupant or the real estate agent. The bills show each account’s details and any unpaid balance. EAAB will not change the name on a water account until that balance is paid (a paz y salvo).
For help moving utility accounts into your name or checking a property’s title, contact our team through the Colombia Desk relocation concierge or our contact page.