An estimated 1.8 million people in Mexico — 1.5% of the population — have no access to electricity.

The 2018-2032 National Electric Development Program has identified 6,497 population groups in 838 municipalities in every state in the nation, including Mexico City, that did not have electricity as of September 2019.

The state with the largest number of communities without electrical power is Chihuahua, with 1,445 communities in 33 municipalities, according to information provided by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

Chiapas comes in second, with 805 communities in 77 of the state’s 119 municipalities without power.

Durango follows with 601 communities, Guerrero with 569 and Veracruz with 534.

Those five states account for 60% of the communities without electricity.

Even Mexico City isn’t without such problems. Three communities in the southern borough of Tlalpan have no electricity, although the capital has the least number of unconnected communities, along with the states of Tlaxcala and Colima.

The numbers reveal that Mexico has less coverage than other countries in Latin America, such as Brazil, Uruguay, Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Argentina, according to the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE).

Source: Reforma (sp)