Mexican automotive industry lists “disadvantages” of the electrical reform

The electrical reform promoted by the president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador It must address the “existing areas of opportunity” without affecting the productive sector with its “disadvantages,” requested the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA).

“The Automotive industry is interested in having a transparent, efficient, competitive and progressively more sustainable national electricity system. We are sure that all the actors involved have the same interest. Therefore, we believe that a way will be found to address the areas of opportunity in the electricity sector without affecting other industrial sectors”, shared José Zozaya, president of the AMIA, and collects a statement.

Zozaya recognized that the national electricity system and its regulatory framework have areas for improvement that could be solved by modifying secondary legislation.

But in turn, he shared “the disadvantages that the constitutional reform initiative proposed by the Federal Executive would have.”

This is due to the negative effects that this can bring to the productive plant of the Mexican automotive industry and the international commitments signed by Mexico in agreements such as the treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) or the Paris Agreement, the bulletin noted.

Concerns in the motor sector

AMIA-affiliated companies listed some of their main concerns about the electricity reform, which proposes that the state Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) generate at least 54% of the energy, and private companies the remaining percentage.

“We are concerned that there may be no financing available, no infrastructure or generation of clean electricity to meet the increase in demand in the near future, both due to the existing economic inertia and the commitments made previously,” the AMIA said. .

The association considered that, due to the “limited capacity of renewable sources” that the CFE has, to reach this proportion in the generation of electricity, fossil fuels would have to be used. “Which could increase the cost of electricity by up to 31%,” he estimated.

Likewise, in case of limiting the self-supply modality, there will be a significant part of the electricity demand that the CFE would have to cover immediately and “its ability to achieve it will be challenged,” warned the AMIA, representative of one of the sectors that most contribute to the national economy.

Finally, he warned of the internal and also external problems of not producing using renewable energies.

“By not promoting renewable energies, our exports could be subject to trade reprisals, such as carbon taxes on manufacturing, making Mexico less attractive as an investment destination and affecting job creation,” he added.

The electricity reform -which still has to be approved in the Legislative- is a proposal promoted by President López Obrador that seeks to limit private participation in electricity generation to 46% to favor the CFE, a state company, criticized for having some obsolete plants.