Electricity sector in Mexico
As required by the Constitution, the electricity sector is federally owned, with the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad or CFE) essentially controlling the whole sector; private participation and foreign companies are allowed to operate in the country only through specific service contracts. Attempts to reform the sector have traditionally faced strong political and social resistance in Mexico, where subsidies for residential consumers absorb substantial fiscal resources.
| Mexico: Electricity sector | ||
|---|---|---|
| Data | ||
| Electricity coverage (2015) | 98.7% | |
| Installed capacity (2020) | 86.034 GW | |
| Share of fossil energy | 65.0% | |
| Share of renewable energy | 35.0% (hydro, wind, solar & geothermal) | |
| Share of nuclear energy | 2.4% | |
| GHG emissions from electricity generation (2004) | 114 MtCO2e | |
| Average electricity use (2008) | 1,665 kWh per capita | |
| Continuity of supply | 2.2 hrs interruption per subscriber per year | |
| Total losses (2008) | 11% (CFE), 32% (LFC); (LAC average in 2005: 13.6%) | |
| Average residential tariff (US$/kWh, 2008) | 0.106; (LAC average in 2005: 0.115) | |
| Average industrial tariff (US$/kWh, 2008) | medium: 0.153, large: 0.118 (LAC average in 2005: 0.107) | |
| Average agricultural tariff (US$/kWh, 2008) | 0.051 | |
| Annual investment in electricity | n/a | |
| Share of self-financing by utilities | n/a | |
| Share of Government financing | n/a | |
| Institutions | ||
| Sector unbundling | No | |
| Share of private sector generation | 25% | |
| Share of private sector in distribution | 0% | |
| Competitive supply to large users | No | |
| Competitive supply to residential users | No | |
| Number of service providers | dominating 2: CFE & LFC (LFC now part of CFE, since 2009) | |
| Responsibility for transmission | CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) | |
| National electricity regulator | Yes (CRE) | |
| Responsibility for policy setting | SENER | |
| Responsibility for renewable energy | SENER | |
| Responsibility for the environment | SEMARNAT | |
| Electricity Sector Law | Yes (1976, last revision 1992) | |
| Renewable Energy Law | Yes (2008) | |
| CDM transactions related to the energy sector | 47 registered CDM project; 3.7 million tCO2e annual emissions reductions | |
The electricity sector in Mexico relies heavily on thermal sources (75% of total installed capacity), followed by hydropower generation (19%). Although exploitation of solar, wind, and biomass resources has a large potential, geothermal energy is the only renewable source (excluding hydropower) with a significant contribution to the energy mix (2% of total generation capacity). Expansion plans for the period 2006-2015 estimate the addition of some 14.8 GW of new generation capacity by the public sector, with a predominance of combined cycles.