Mexico Electricity Reform Leaves Questions Unanswered

摘要

With Mexico's government working to implement the wide-ranging energy reforms approved by constitutional amendment in December, liberalization of the electricity sector is taking a back seat to the planned opening of the country's oil and gas resources to private companies. December's constitutional reform would allow private generators to compete with state electricity utility CFE and create a liberalized wholesale power market, but Congress must first pass numerous secondary laws to set the changes in motion. President Enrique Pena Nieto sent legislators draft proposals for 21 new or modified laws on Apr. 30, but only a handful were directly related to the electricity industry. Overall, the government's top priority is hydrocarbons, where it anticipates a surge in foreign investment and is angling to hold its first post-reform bid round next year (WGI Aug.28' 13).