The opposition presidential candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, This Wednesday, May 8, he asked to give free rein to private investment in energy matters in the face of massive blackouts in Mexico, where on Tuesday the National Energy Control Center (Cenace) declared a emergency in the electrical system.
“We have a serious problem. (We need) more generation from the private sector, more transmission lines to be built. If not, let’s have problems growing economically“said the coalition representative Strength and Heart for Mexico after his participation in a forum on education in the Mexican capital.
Gálvez thus referred to the emergency declared by the Cenace in the National Interconnected System after registering this Tuesday a maximum demand for 49,887 megawatts (MW) and an operating reserve margin of 3 percent at 4:36 p.m. (22:36 GMT) on Tuesday.
Cenace declared an ‘Emergency Operational State’ at 5:04 p.m. local time (23:04 GMT) for 48 minutes and then another at 8:10 p.m. (02:10 GMT on Wednesday) for one hour, which caused blackouts in cities in nearly 16 of the country’s 32 territorial entities, including Mexico City, according to user testimonies collected by the national press.
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), the state electricity company, has not detailed the number of affected users nor has it specified which cities suffered blackouts.
How can the electrical system be improved? This is what Xóchitl Gálvez proposes
Given this situation, the opposition candidate proposed that several things should be done to improve the electrical system in the country, including a Tehuantepec Isthmus transmission linefrom the south of the country to the center of Mexico, bring more energy from the north of the country and open energy again to private investment.
“(We must) finish the plants that the CFE started because it seems that none of the six will be ready soon and reopen energy generation to the private sector because there is too much demand,” he emphasized.
On Tuesday night, after the declaration of emergency, Xochitl Galvez questioned on his social networks whether the blackouts were “national emergency or criminal negligence”.
“I have said it and I repeat it: in my Government we are going to have clean, cheap and sufficient energy,” he stated in his X account.
However, the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, He justified in his conference this Wednesday that the blackouts were something “exceptional” due to the heat in Mexico, which is facing a wave with temperatures above 40 degrees in 22 states of the country, including 11 with temperatures above 45 degrees.
The event also occurs while the López Obrador Government faces questions from the opposition and businessmen for implementing policies to favor the CFE and hinder private investment in renewable energy, which they say has affected electricity generation.
On election day on June 2, more than 98 million citizens are called to vote, making it the largest in the history of Mexico, with more than 20 thousand elected positionsincluding the Presidency, Congress and nine state governments.
