MEXICO CITY, Oct 19 (Reuters) – The electricity reform proposed by Mexico’s president would cause the closure of generation plants in the mining industry, which would increase operating costs and make a “large number” of projects economically unviable, he said. on Tuesday the Mining Chamber of Mexico (Camimex).
The group, made up of companies such as Industrias Peñoles and Grupo México, also pointed out that the cancellation of electricity permits would prevent mining operations from having access to clean sources of electricity generation.
At the beginning of October, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent Congress a constitutional reform proposal with which he intends to put total control of the electricity sector in the hands of the state-owned CFE, eliminate regulatory bodies, eliminate permits and guarantee the control of the State over the coveted reserves of lithium.
However, the controversial initiative, which has received an avalanche of criticism, could be amended and requires a two-thirds majority in Congress to pass, forcing the ruling Morena party to build bridges with the opposition.
“The approval without modifications of the initiative of constitutional reform to the energy sector presented by the federal government has serious environmental, economic and social implications that will affect the well-being of the population and the economic activity of key sectors,” warned Camimex.
The group said in a statement that a monopoly in the supply of energy could make its use more expensive “making a large number of mining projects that are necessary for the development of the country economically unviable.”
In addition, Camimex added that the initiative “may be an obstacle for the Mexican industry to be sustainable” since the cancellation of electricity permits will prevent mining operations from having access to clean sources of electricity generation.
Mexico is the world’s largest silver producer, as well as one of the top 10 producers of a dozen other minerals, including gold, copper and zinc. Mining represents around 2.3% of the country’s GDP.
(Reporting by Diego Oré; Edited by Adriana Barrera)