US lawmakers call for toughening stance against AMLO electricity reform

1369

The US Senate sent a second letter in less than two weeks to the Biden administration cabinet, where it demands particular actions from Washington in relation to the energy regulation promoted by the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The congressmen ask the Secretary of Energy for a firm hand against the constitutional reform proposal.

The North American representatives assure that the approval of the electrical reform will mean the “antithesis of the historically solid economic relationship between the United States and Mexico” and will close the doors to the exploitation of strategic minerals such as lithium and he will charge North American companies.

In the letter, the congressmen, in addition to expressing their concerns about the federal government’s energy agenda, asked the Biden administration for a tougher position against Mexico’s energy policy.

“We urge you to further voice your concerns about Mexico President López de Obrador’s damaging fossil fuel agenda, because thus far, according to public reports, López Obrador interprets the Biden administration’s relative public silence on this issue as indifference or tacit approval. of your government’s decision to prioritize fossil fuel development over renewable energy,” the letter reads.

The Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, will meet tomorrow with the head of the Mexican Secretary of Energy, Roció Nahle.

The representatives asked Granholm to make electricity reform a priority issue in tomorrow’s discussion.

In addition, they asked the Biden administration for an update on the actions taken to defend US energy investments within the framework of the USMCA.

“With the promulgation of this reform, they add, the Mexican government would cancel the permits, contracts, and certificates; eliminate federal energy regulatory agencies that provide checks and balances on state-owned energy companies; offers CFE a guarantee to control at least 54% of the market; a reorganization of private and state energy production quotas to favor the production of fossil fuels, and establish the state as the sole implementer of Mexico’s clean energy transition.”

The senators accuse that in December of last year, Mexico presented very little ambitious goals of the National Self-Determined Contributions (NDC, for its acronym in English) as part of its commitments within the Paris Agreement, by committing to reduce only 22 percent its greenhouse gas emissions and black carbon emissions by 51 percent by 2030.

They add that this conduct is in line with the efforts of President López Obrador to prevent the growth of renewable energy in Mexico.

In addition to this, the letter adds, the Mexican Chamber of Deputies could vote in April on a reform that would reverse the 2014 energy reform, which allowed private and foreign investment in this field in Mexico and restore the dominance of the CFE in this area.

“If this is applied, the Mexican government will cancel renewable energy permits, contracts and certificates, eliminate federal regulatory agencies, which provide checks and balances to state companies, and implement a guarantee that the CFE controls, at least, 54 percent of the market, as well as a reorganization of the energy production quotas of private companies to favor generation with fossil fuels, and establish the State as the sole implementer for the energy transition in Mexico”, he points out.

The letter was sent the same week that the Open Parliament began in the Chamber of Deputies to discuss the Energy Reform that President López Obrador promoted since October of last year.

Mexico Lower House of Congress approves AMLO's controversial "Electricity  Bill" -

For US senators, one of the actions that can cause the greatest detriment to the priorities of the Biden administration is that the legislation would prohibit concessions to extract minerals such as lithium and copper.

“This policy would go against the T-MEC rules that establish the prohibition of restrictions on new investments and would exacerbate concerns about national security, related to the critical scarcity of the mineral,” they warn.

The senators say the initiative also threatens at least $44 billion in private investment in the Mexican energy sector, which will negatively impact US companies and their investments in Mexico, which is antithetical to the strong historical relationship in economic matters. between both countries.

“Cooperation with Mexico in the development of clean energy, including the extraction of critical minerals, is essential to advance in competition with China, to ensure efficient energy generation for the people of Mexico,” adds the US Senate document.

“President López Obrador’s political agenda prioritizes carbon-intensive, polluting and more expensive energy sources, simply because production is owned by the State,” criticize the legislators.

Mexico Daily Post