What about Renewable Energies in Mexico?

With an echo that reached the European Union, last Friday, May 15, the Ministry of Energy published in the Official Gazette of the Federation the “Agreement issuing the Policy of Reliability, Safety, Continuity and Quality in the National Electricity System.”

Not a day passed and the uproar and controversy were being felt everywhere, social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, national and even international news programs commented on a tremendous aberration to the Rule of Law and Private Initiative, but why so much shock?

Well, it turns out that through the 31 page agreement, theThe Ministry of Energy puts a very significant brake on the Renewable Energy Industry, because it takes over the reins of the National Electricity System, among other things, limiting the installation of clean energy generation plants, favoring those belonging to the Federal Electricity Commission, which operate on the basis of coal and fuel oils.

In addition to the above, the limitation on the issuance of permits for new plants stands out, as well as the prohibition of the construction of projects in places that can be considered, at their discretion, with transmission capacity problems to “avoid network overloads”.

With this, the issuance of permits, the revision of existing plants and even the suspension of preoperative tests are suspended, the latter being one of the final steps to start operating.

However, What does all this entail? First of all, involves a violation of not only the national legal system, but also international agreements are violated, such as the Paris Agreement, because limiting the use of renewable energy, the country will considerably increase its emission of polluting gases, in addition to the fact that it will be difficult to achieve the proposed goal so that by 2024, 35% of the national energy comes from renewable sources.

Secondly, the Ministry of Energy has flagrantly violated our Federal Constitution, completely ignoring various principles such as legal certainty, legality, non-retroactivity of law and even the little known principle of legitimate trust.

And as if the transgression of the national legal order were not obvious, this measure, in accordance with the General Law on Regulatory Improvement, should have been submitted to the Regulatory Impact Analysis, which consists in the fact that Mexican society, as a consumer of electricity and final recipient of the service, should have had the opportunity to express its opinion on the matter, to be able to offer alternatives and recommendations, because as a society it is our duty to assert our rights. In spite of all this, and using the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) as justification, the Ministry of Energy “skipped” this step and proceeded to publish it in the Official Gazette of the Federation, which likewise acted improperly.

Now that the what has been explained, we need to know why. In short, the Ministry of Energy alleges that renewable energies are not “as reliable” to provide quality service to the Mexican people, since they do not comply with the principles indicated in the title of the agreement, which, according to the Electricity Industry Act, are governing the supply of this energy; therefore, through the control of the National Electricity System, the electricity industry will be granted greater efficiency for us as final consumers, completely ignoring the obligations already assumed, the impact on the environment, on health and especially on the Mexican economy.

What's left for us to do? We must assert our rights, never stand idly by in the face of this and any other arbitrariness on the part of the authorities, we must demand timely compliance with the laws that, in the end, are the foundation and pillar of this country.

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