The Mexican Energy Commission of the Chamber of Deputies will approve a reform to the Electricity Industry Law, which aims to strengthen its power capacity.
The reform would prioritize the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)) over private business within the energy industry to guarantee Mexico's power sovereignty. It would also allow the Mexican state to "exercise, in an exclusive manner, the planning and control of the National Electric System, for the benefit of a competitive system that will allow for the reduction of prices."
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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has denounced that the CFE and Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) were significantly harmed in previous administrations amid privatization of power generation. Moreover, private companies were granted subsidies despite raising the prices as state-owned plants closed.
Desde que llegamos, en vez de cerrar plantas de la @CFEmx, que era la política que se aplicaba en el periodo neoliberal, se decidió darle mantenimiento a esas plantas. De modo que ahora que se necesitan pueden funcionar y nos están ayudando: @lopezobrador_#ConferenciaPresidente pic.twitter.com/eLpqvxC53L
— SENER México (@SENER_mx) February 18, 2021
CFEmx plants, which was the policy during the neoliberal period, it was decided to keep those plants. So now that they are needed, they can work, and they are helping us."
After the reform, the government will repair those plants and turn them into employment for the communities. This while the reform has face strong rejection from the opposition and private business owners who have warned that the initiative would place them "at the end of the line," jeopardizing millions of dollars.
However, the power crisis in northern Mexico due to a snowstorm in the U.S. has led authorities to focus on the vulnerable position the country is in under the current power generation system.
On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott prohibited the sale of natural gas outside the state, forcing Mexico to readjust its national power system since it buys from Texas 90 percent of the gas it uses to generate power north of the country.