The energy management of electric motors is an important part of the industrial energy management, because the electric motors consume about 70% of industrial electricity. The energy management allows reduce electricity consumption through the increase efficiency of industrial processes and reduce CO2 emissions. Knowing the cause of failure in electric motors is a very important element of the industrial energy management. This paper presents a review of the causes and classification of the most common failures in industrial electric motors. The work is complemented by a classification of faults made from surveys and information provided by repair centers electrical machines in southwestern Colombian.