Head of the Business Coordinating Council Carlos‌ ‌Salazar‌ ‌Lo‌melín. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

Officials from Mexico’s Business Coordinating Council (CCE) have come forward to dismiss the Mexican government’s purported lies surrounding its proposed electric reform, saying in a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 12, that their ​​intentions “are guided by ideology and not by technical expertise and rigor.”

The CCE’s head Carlos‌ ‌Salazar‌ ‌Lo‌melín pointed to Secretary of Energy Rocío Nahle and the director of the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), Manuel Bartlett’s, Monday, Oct. 10, words as falsely painting the private energy sector in a bad light.

“It is understandable that the press conferences of public servants are used to communicate messages that serve their political convenience,” said Salazar‌ ‌Lo‌melín. “They have every right to present ideas and arguments, but not to characterize the legal activities of investors as robberies of the nation. There is no reason to lie. Over time, lies take on a life of their own and erode the trust that we all want to build.”

Salazar‌ ‌Lo‌melín went on to discuss the financial success of Mexico’s own electricity and energy companies throughout the country, even with the presence of private-sector competition.

“The CFE does well, nothing bad needs to be done to the private sector or vice versa, as private companies are efficient, and do not need the CFE to lose,” said Salazar‌ ‌Lo‌melín. “This is not a sum-zero game. The CFE is already highly profitable in the transmission and distribution of energy.”

Meanwhile, Mexican Employers’ Confederation (Coparmex) President José Medina Mora took to Twitter to mention the CFE’s higher prices and lower efficiency than its private initiative counterparts.

“Based on data from the CFE, as of September 2021, we see that energy generated by the CFE is 4.9 times more expensive than that produced by the private sector (1,852 pesos per megawatts per hour against 377 pesos per megawatts per hour),” read Medina Mora’s tweet.