Mexico captured 21,000 million dollars of investments in wind and solar projects until March 2021, indicated the Energy Business Council of the United States (EBC).
The data was highlighted in a letter sent on January 19 by Mike Brown, president of the EBC and also president of the company Burns & McDonnell International, in which he warns that, if approved, the electrical reform initiative in Mexico will have a negative impact in the sector.
The letter was addressed to the Secretary of Energy of the United States, Jennifer Granholm, and has the support of AES, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Nema and the Energy Workforce & Technology Council.
Initially, Brown wants Granholm to have a «robust, honest and productive conversation about the future of the Mexican energy sector» at her meeting (last Friday) with her Mexican counterpart, Rocío Nahle.
He specifically expects that to happen on the «negative impacts» of the current government’s efforts to reverse Mexico’s 2013 energy reform.
“These efforts include the new electricity reform proposal and the challenges that legitimate US fuels marketers are facing in their Mexican operations,” added Brown.
Hopefully, according to him, Granholm can advocate for an accelerated resolution of the multiple impasses that are hampering US investment and bring some accountability to the process.
In counterpoint, the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has defended the electrical reform arguing that it would allow for a certain downward control of electricity prices in the country.
Solar projects
From Brown’s perspective, there is both a substantive problem and a procedural problem with the Mexican authorities.
In substance, the US private sector members of the EBC believe that the proposed energy sector counter-reforms will have negative consequences on the entire Mexican energy landscape, holding back private sector investment and increasing energy and electricity costs for consumers.
Since the 2013-2014 reforms, companies have invested billions of dollars in the Mexican energy sector, from the creation of energy infrastructure to the expansion of the portfolio of clean and renewable energy sources.
At the same time, US fuel marketers are also supplying fuels and other refined products for the benefit of Mexican industry and consumers in general.
U.S. companies have invested millions of dollars in midstream and downstream infrastructure and logistics that are currently, according to the RBC, being rendered suboptimal or shut down by Mexican authorities, hampering legitimate U.S. private operations.
“We would like your help in encouraging the AMLO administration to work with private sector partners instead of restricting access and in some cases shutting us out,” he said immediately.
Regarding the procedure, although there has been some dialogue with the Mexican authorities, this dialogue «has been inadequate.»
Therefore, “we would like your help in encouraging the AMLO administration to work with private sector partners instead of restricting access and, in some cases, excluding us,” he said.
