With 22 votes in favor -from Bruna, PT and weight- and 10 against -from PA, PRI, PRD and MC-, legislators of the Fourth Transformation complied with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and endorsed, without substantial changes, its preferential initiative to amend the Electricity Industry Act and encourage the Federal Electricity Commission in fossil fuel production, and relegate individuals in this branch.
This opinion was endorsed after a long five-hour debate and accusations between lawmakers in Q4 and the opposition, and was alternated in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, where all reservations will be released and profile to be approved next Tuesday 23.
On February 1, President López Obrador began his energy counter-reform and his first step was to present a preferential initiative to amend the Law on the Electricity Industry and implement a New Energy Policy and, according to his perspective, not to increase prices to users.
In this document it was decided to privilege the electrical energy produced by the Mexican state and the service to consumers will be fed, in the first place, by the hydroelectric distribution network; second, by which generated by CFE plants; thirdly, for the wind or solar energy of individuals, and finally, the combined cycle energy of private companies.
With this new scheme, private individuals will be relegated to third and fourth places in the preference to supply electricity to consumers, in addition to being subject to government plans in the matter.
Among the main changes that Bruna’s deputies made to the opinion are the addition of a transitional article so that “all provisions that oppose the provisions of this decree” are repealed. In addition, the Energy Regulatory Commission is empowered to review or revoke self-sufficiency permits that have been obtained in violation of the law.
In this debate, the deputy Carol Antonio Altamirano, from Bruna, pointed out that they support the initiative of López Obrador because they identify and share the nationalist orientation that encourages it, and added that -without falling into personal disqualifications- they do not have coincidence with the opposition, because what is at stake is to rescue the energy sovereignty of this country.
“Nor can we forget that the alliance of PRI and PA imposed a reform that betrayed our history to deliver to the private sector the usufruct of oil reserves that had already been identified by Pemex and maintained a tax treatment unequal, in which private companies can deduct more operating costs than Pemex is allowed to deduct, generating an artificial advantage for the private sector.
“The energy reform that PRI and PA pushed for was disastrous and more so today is the warning we made to them eight years ago,” said Carol Antonio Altamirano.
Meanwhile, MP Hernán Salines (PA) emphasized that this opinion “will have effects, from our point of view, not only devastating for the present of our country, but for the future of its generations”.
The legislator has specified that “a counter-reform in the energy sector is being debated, specifically on the issue of the electricity industry, which puts at risk the viability of economic growth and that the country can produce what is needed.”
PRI MP Enrique Ochoa Reza presented a separate vote, which recovers the opinions of experts in energy, legal and social matters, who warn that this preferential initiative violates different articles of the Constitution. He indicated that, in addition, the observations of the Federal Commission of Economic Competition are integrated, since in spite of being turned to this legislative instance it does not form part of the elements to consider in this opinion.
From the PT, the deputy Gerardo Fernández Noroña stated that it is necessary to end the subsidies that hurt the finances of the CFE and achieve self-sufficiency in energy, as it is a matter of national security, and has accused that Mexico has lost 412 billion to keep foreign parasitic plants.
Meanwhile, for the Green Party, MP Zulma Espinoza Mata mentioned that its political faction coincides with the initiative presented by the Executive in the need to strengthen the Federal Electricity Commission to ensure the reliability and quality of the system. ; however, he added that this cannot be done to the detriment of boosting clean energy as they are key in mitigating climate change.