Friday, July 11, 2025

Supreme Court rules against government’s energy policy

The Supreme Court (SCJN) has rescinded key elements of a federal energy policy in a major setback for the government, which is trying to reshape the electricity market to favor the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

The court, which last June suspended the energy reliability policy pending a final ruling, definitively struck down 22 provisions of the same policy, which was published by the Energy Ministry (Sener) last May.

By four votes to one on Wednesday, the second chamber of the SCJN invalidated provisions in the policy – which imposed restrictive measures on the renewable energy sector – that it ruled violated the constitution in areas including free competition and sustainability. Only five provisions of the Sener policy were declared legal.

The court’s decision came in response to a complaint filed by Mexico’s antitrust regulator, the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece). The ruling is a blow for the government’s plans to sideline private and renewable companies from Mexico’s power market.

The government sent a bill to Congress on Monday that proposes a sweeping overhaul of the electricity market to favor the CFE but the legislation, which is expected to be approved, will almost certainly be challenged and could also be struck down by the Supreme Court.

That eventuality, which appears likely based on Wednesday’s decision, would put a sizable dent in President López Obrador’s ambition to wind back the previous government’s energy form that opened up the sector to foreign and private companies for the first time in almost 80 years.

Among the energy policy provisions rescinded by the Supreme Court on Wednesday was one that gave priority to safety in the dispatch of power over economic efficiency.

Another provision that was struck down allowed the National Energy Control Center to determine – based on criteria established by the Energy Ministry itself – whether an application to supply power to the national grid should be considered or not “without taking into account the general technical specifications approved” by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

The court said the provision could lead to the “interconnection applicant” – most likely a private company – being unfairly shut out of the electricity market.

Source: Reforma (sp) 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
A small plane flies over the ocean

How the Mexican security minister’s slip of the tongue rankled Salvadoran President Bukele

2
President Bukele took exception after García Harfuch's identified a drug-smuggling plane as coming from El Salvador.
gold bars

Highway robbery near Guadalajara nets 6 million pesos worth of gold and silver

0
Such open-road heists have risen in frequency recently and could pose a threat to potential investors otherwise attracted by nearshoring opportunities.
Security chief Omar García Harfuch, Attorney General Gertz and other Mexian officials sit on a stage in front of a banner reading "National Strategy against Extortion" in spanish

Authorities launch national strategy against extortion to tackle a pernicious and widespread crime

1
The strategy contemplates new laws that would force states to investigate the crime, even when victims are too afraid to make an official report.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity