Photographer: Mauricio Palos / Bloomberg
Photographer: Mauricio Palos / Bloomberg
–
The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is concerned that a recently amended electricity law in Mexico will hurt Canadian investments in the country’s clean energy sector.
Mexico’s legislature was recently approved a bill proposed by nationalist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to strengthen the state energy company Comisión Federal de Electricidad, or CFE, at the expense of the private sector. Although the legislation has been suspended by a Mexican court, its implementation could put up to $ 4.1 billion in Canadian assets at risk in the Latin American country, according to a Canadian government official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
“Canada is concerned that the recently passed law amending the Electricity Sector Act will undermine Canadian investment in renewable energy,” Youmy Han, spokesperson for Canadian Commerce Minister Mary Ng, said in an email.
López Obrador’s pressure for greater state control and an apparent disregard for a The shift to cleaner energy is pitting against US President Joe Biden and Canada’s Trudeau. Under the proposed bill, private solar and wind farms could only supply the grid after state plants.
“All Canadian companies involved in the sector have expressed concern about these measures affecting their energy investments in Mexico, which is shared by Canada,” Han said.
Canadian Ng and Mexico’s economy secretary Tatiana Clouthier Carrillo discussed the legislation, according to a reading of the conversation from Ng’s office this week. The two employees also spoke about the need to maintain the confidence of Canadian investors, maintaining “a stable and predictable business environment for Canadian companies operating in Mexico.”