Entrepreneurs denounce that there are 150 energy projects stopped in Mexico

The Mexican Business Coordinating Council (CCE) denounced this Wednesday that there are 150 clean energy projects detained with a value of US$ 40,000 million due to the uncertainty of the energy policy promoted by the Government.

“The private sector is committed to Mexico and to ensuring that we Mexicans have enough cheap and clean energy. There are more than 150 future projects that are equivalent to more than US$ 40,000 million of investment that are now on hold, and that the country needs”, declared Carlos Salazar, president of the ECC.

The leader of the business leadership participated in the forum “Economic and financial impacts for the CFE (Federal Electricity Commission) and the public finances of the electrical reforms” within the open parliament of the Mexican Congress to discuss the initiative of the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The reform proposal, sent last September, causes controversy because it would limit private participation in electricity generation to 46% in order to favor CFEstate enterprise.

In addition, it would eliminate autonomous energy regulators, review previous contracts and prioritize fossil fuel plants. CFE on private renewables.

“That all Mexicans have access to enough cheap and clean energy. We want a strong, vigorous, efficient, productive and competitive Federal Electricity Commission, but this reform proposal does not achieve what the president wants for Mexico”, he opined Salazar in Congress.

In the forum, Michael Reyesdirector of CFE Energyreplied that the State company “subsidizes”, according to him, to private generators with 490,000 million pesos (more than US$ 23,780 million).

He also argued that private companies produce 82% of their energy with fossil sources and are responsible for 52% of national carbon dioxide emissions in the electricity sector.

Instead, the president of the ECC asserted that the CFE has not made necessary investments despite collecting 46,000 million pesos (more than US $ 2,230 million) only from the transmission fee in 2021.

Likewise, he reproached that the reform intends to return to Mexico “to a model that is already overrun”, as the Mexican population has almost tripled in recent decades and the economy has grown at least eight times.

Regarding the complaints from the Government, which has accused the companies of “operate illegally”, Salazar replied that “no constitutional reform is required to apply the law.”

“An efficient electricity system, which combines the stewardship of the State with the market and private investment, requires a firm, but fair and independent regulation, which prevents abuses and compensates unjustified losses to the participants.”, he concluded.