Gov Goes After Renewable Energy Companies In Mexico

Mexico’s Centro Nacional de Control de Energia (Cenace), which oversees the electrical system, indefinitely suspended critical tests for new clean-energy projects as the nation grapples with the spread of the coronavirus, reported Bloomberg. 

Preoperative tests of intermittent power plants would be suspended along with other measures to increase the reliability of the national electrical system, Cenace said in a statement released Friday, May 1. 

The agency stated that it will apply the “actions and operational strategies to strengthen the reliability of the electrical supply.”

Critics worry that the new measures, which don’t mention older non-renewable plants operated by Mexico’s state-owned utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), will hurt renewable producers at the expense of their state-run rival. Calls to Cenace outside of normal business were not answered.

“This is not in line with the care that one should take of consumers and markets,” said Eduardo Perez Motta, the former head of Mexico’s antitrust regulator in an interview. “A company with market power, the CFE, is probably trying to take care of and protect itself through these measures.”

Full Content: Bloomberg

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.