Electricity rates in BCS will be subsidized with 123 million pesos

La Paz, BCS. The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit will transfer 123 million pesos this year, on behalf and by order of the state of Baja California Sur, to the Federal Electricity Commission as a subsidy to domestic use rates in municipalities where the 1F rate does not apply. in this entity, during the summer period.

According to the Official Gazette of the Federation published on April 5, Baja California Sur is added to the states of Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa and Nayarit, which will receive a subsidy as established in the agreement published on February 22.

In the recitals of the DOF it is specified that the northwest region of Mexico, which includes the aforementioned federal entities, is characterized by being a mainly desert, coastal area and where high temperatures are recorded in summer, which causes an increase in electrical energy consumption. ;

Due to these circumstances, in February 2022, a tariff adjustment was made in said region due to high electricity consumption in summer, which significantly impacted the economy of its inhabitants.

This generated discontent and protests among the population, since their ability to pay for the electricity supply was affected.

The above forced the Federal Executive to intervene to help the population, and introduce different support schemes or special subsidies for electricity rates granted by state governments with resources provided by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, which were applied through of the Federal Electricity Commission.

Articles 6 and 7 of the Federal Electricity Commission Law establish that the parastatal company may enter into all types of acts, agreements and contracts with the federal government, in accordance with commercial and common legislation.

In this way, on February 22, 2024, the agreement granting a subsidy to the federal entities of Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa and Nayarit was published in the DOF.

Although the state of Baja California Sur is part of the Northwest region of Mexico, it was not included in that agreement, so Governor Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío began negotiations with the President of the Republic, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to that it was incorporated.

As a consequence, the DOF of this April 5 establishes that since Baja California Sur is a federal entity in the Mexican northwest, “it is necessary to grant it a subsidy to cover the debts derived from the support for electricity rates for domestic use in said federal entity. .

“In this sense, for domestic users in all municipalities of the state of Baja California Sur where the 1F rate does not apply, the estimated amount of rate support for that federal entity that could be applied in a rate support agreement in 2024 “It would be approximately 123 million pesos.”