• RATES: Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) agreed Thursday to increase transmission rates for those self-supply power contracts signed before 2013, risking to upend the Mexican electricity sector at a time when the economy reopens after the coronavirus lockdown.
• DECISION: In an unanimous decision and with no public debate, the CRE’s seven commissioners voted in favor of updating rates for self-supply power contracts that involve both renewables and efficient cogeneration plants. Self-supply contracts are key sectors of the Mexican economy.
• CONCERN: Earlier this week, the head of Mexico’s state-owned electric utility (CFE), which has the transmission monopoly in Mexico, demanded the regulator to increase transmission rates for private companies. According to industry estimates self-supply contracts amount to US $16.23 billion.
• IMPACT: “The impact of this promoted change could blow Mexico’s knee in a time of full economic recovery and destroy investment confidence throughout the economy”, Julio Valle, spokesman for the Mexican wind and solar energy associations ahead of the CRE’s decision.
