The president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorsaid this Saturday that the fine of 467 million dollars that the regulator of the Mexican energy sector imposed on the Spanish company is fair Iberdrola for improper sale of electricity.
“I believe that it is fair and that Mexico is no longer a land of conquest,” the president told reporters during a work tour of the state of Sinaloa (northwest).
The Energy regulatory commission de México (CRE) imposed the millionaire sanction on the private generator Iberdrola Energía Monterrey for having sold electricity to third parties, an activity that is not contemplated in the self-supply permit that the firm has, explains the resolution published on Friday.
The CRE argued that Iberdrola “was obliged to generate electricity exclusively to satisfy the self-supply needs of its partners.”
Mexico’s public energy service law indicates that private generators can only supply those partners that appear at the time of signing the self-supply contracts, including possible expansion plans at that time.
“Of course I am informed that they have misused their concessions because they have been adding banks, large companies to pretend that they belong to a self-sufficient energy society,” López Obrador abounded about the sanction.
Iberdrola can challenge the decision of the CRE through an amparo trial, as indicated in the regulator’s own resolution.
For the Mexican government, the abuse of self-supply contracts has become “fraudulent”, although it has offered to negotiate with the companies that would have incurred in these faults to avoid lawsuits.
The fine to Iberdrolaa company that has been strongly criticized by López Obrador, represents a new episode in the battle waged by his government to strengthen the state presence in the energy sector.
The leftist failed last April in his attempt to restore the old state monopoly of the industry through a constitutional reform that was rejected by the opposition in Congress.
Iberdrola’s punishment also occurs when López Obrador considers that relations with Spain they are on a “pause”, alleging that that country must “realize” the “abuses” it has committed against Mexico.
