Pemex and CFE recover the status of state companies

The Chamber of Deputies specifically approved by 350 votes in favor and 111 against, the reform through which Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) recover the category of “public companies of the State” and establishes that the latter must have a predominant character in the electricity sector, with respect to private companies.

The debate, which in itself lasted almost 14 hours, became even more extensive when a reservation presented by the Morenista Ana Elizabeth Ayala Leyva was accepted for debate and finally endorsed, through which the State’s obligation to drive was eliminated. the energy transition.

Around 11 pm on Wednesday, when the 260 reservations that were proposed to the reform that had been generally approved shortly before were being vented, Ayala took the stand to propose three modifications to the opinion.

The main one consisted of omitting from constitutional article 27 a paragraph that, in committees in August, the Green Party proposed, and that was not included in the original initiative of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, last February.

In that wording included in commissions two months ago, it was planned to establish that “the State is in charge of the energy transition and will use in a sustainable manner all the energy sources available to the nation in order to reduce gas emissions and greenhouse effect components, for which the scientific, technological and industrial policies necessary for the energy transition and other environmental impacts will be established.”

Likewise, the legislator proposed adding to article 28 of the Magna Carta that railways “for both passenger and cargo transportation” should be considered priority areas for national development, and replace the word “concessions” with “allocations.” in that same constitutional section.

However, it was the point of the energy transition that ignited a debate of almost two hours in which the majority parties and the opposition became involved in a series of mutual accusations about the relevance or not of the State assuming responsibility alone. on said topic.

The coordinator of the Morena bench, Ricardo Monreal, took the stand on two occasions to ensure that the purpose of the reserve was to open the door for private initiative to participate in the energy transition process.

“It is logical that fatigue clouds reason, but if what the reservation indicates is read carefully, what was presented is profound, because if the ruling is not modified, then the State would be the only one responsible for the energy transition, and that It would not be possible because the State does not have the economic capacity” and the commitment of President Claudia Sheinbaum that investors in this matter have legal certainty and promote clean energy would not be respected.

After being questioned by MC and PAN about it, the president of the Political Coordination Board insisted: “it is very easy to try to confuse. The (reserve) proposal is a timely correction so that the State is not the only provider of electric energy service. If it is not eliminated, the State would be obliged exclusively to be in charge of the energy transition and no private investment would be accepted.”

Faced with criticism from the opposition for the meaning of the reservation, Leonel Godoy, also a Morena member, ironically said in the gallery: “this debate is the world upside down! They accused us of being ‘statists’, and eliminating this paragraph seeks to make it clear that private initiative also participates in the energy transition. “It is incongruity and being against everything!”

The newly appointed president of the Constitutional Points Commission emphasized that Morena and its allies seek the participation of private initiative in the issue of energy transition, but at the same time make it clear that public policies are the sole responsibility of the State.

Quits from the PVEM

However, the arguments did not convince the opposition deputies. The coordinator of the PRI parliamentary group, Rubén Moreira, considered that, by removing the aforementioned paragraph, there would be a risk that “no one would take charge of public policies” to promote the aforementioned energy transition, an exclusive task of the State.

Moreira also reminded the majority deputies that the State is not the government, and that the obligation to lead the direction of the energy transition would be the responsibility of the entire Mexican society, not just the central public administration.

For his part, the PAN member Federico Döring sharply complained to the majority deputies that “they have been filling their mouths for hours that now the State is going to lead and have the stewardship of the generation of electrical energy, and when they have to do the energy transition, it is too big for them. They are good at insults, but generating public policies is too big for them.”

Amid cries of rejection from those who supported the reservation, he insisted: “when they have to put their hands into practice (with the energy transition), they say ‘we can’t.’ Haven’t they been saying for hours that they are very young, that they were going to do what nobody else? Now they come here with the most vile excuses ever.”

Döring himself claimed that the PVEM did not defend the reservation that the Constitutional Points Commission voted last August. “They haven’t said a word,” he said. The PVEM deputies simply left.

In addition, the PAN mocked that Morena’s own bench did not notify deputy Olga Sánchez Cordero that there was the intention to delete the paragraph that sparked the debate.

Because during the discussion in general, from the rostrum the retired minister maintained that she did read the opinion under discussion.

“Yes, I studied it and I do know what I am going to vote for. The text, ladies and gentlemen, says: ‘the State is in charge of the energy transition and will use in a sustainable manner all the energy sources available to the nation in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and components.’ I’m reading this, I’m reading this.

“It is also, obviously, aimed at protecting our environment. That is what the proposed text to modify our Constitution says, the rest, frankly, I tell you, are ideological positions.”

He also expressed: “President (Lázaro) Cárdenas said ‘not one step back’. It was also the call of President (Adolfo) López Mateos and today, together with President Claudia Sheinbaum, again to the nation: not a step back!”

In the gallery, the PAN member Germán Martínez mocked the retired minister, even more so because not even her party warned her that she would present the reservation, a decision that left her defenseless against the opposition.

“In her statement, the minister, former Secretary of the Interior and today a representative precisely cited the paragraph that they want to remove. They sent her to read a paragraph that they now want to remove. “This amputates, it cuts off the energy transition!” he expressed.

He even recalled that, when Sánchez Cordero concluded his speech, he anticipated that he would not take a step back. “And everyone here is taking a step back, a shameful step,” he concluded.

After the approval of the opinion, it was sent to the Senate for review and eventual ratification.