The United States Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, said Monday that the Mexican government is willing to answer concerns about its reform initiative aimed at tightening state control in the electricity market.
After a visit to Mexico last week, in which he stated that the United States considers that the bill promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador risks curbing investments, Granholm said that the response he received was encouraging.
“There was receptivity to what we were saying, in the same way that I was receptive to hearing the explanation of why this law was introduced,” he told Reuters in an interview.
“So I think there is an opening to resolve and I hope that happens,” he added, noting that Mexico’s current proposal “would not create a level playing field” for US companies that want to invest in renewable energy in the country.
López Obrador, who has promised to reduce Mexico’s carbon footprint with more hydropower, last year introduced a constitutional reform to increase state control of the power sector as a national security measure.
The president argues that previous corrupt governments manipulated the market in favor of private capital to the detriment of public finances.
But critics say that López Obrador’s bid to give control to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) is holding back investment in wind and solar energy and keeps Mexico dependent on fuels, which will ultimately result in less energy. expensive for consumers.
In addition, they affirm that by curbing the production of clean energy in Mexico, there is a risk that manufacturing companies, increasingly committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, will stop investing in the country.
