When Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met his American counterpart, Joe Biden, in Washington for a decade Bilateral conversations Earlier this month, there was a major hack related to energy: Lopez Obrador Finally publicly acknowledge the inevitability of the following energy transmission.
For a politician long dedicated to the critical importance of fossil fuels in the Mexican energy matrix, this is a very important change. The president dreams of going back to the seventies, when a huge oil discovery was translated into Energy Sovereignty And a great income. The collapse of oil production for a generation has increased Mexico’s dependence on energy imports from European Union and pushed fixes To encourage private investment in energy. Policies Lopez Obrador They are designed to reverse both directions.
Although the President recognizes the need to plan for a greener future, this change of course has its limitations. This does not mean that you will change your determination to rebuild State oil and electricity companies Mexico, Pemex and Federal Electricity Authority (palm). This does not mean that he will back down from his claim to own a file private investment In energy it is only produced in combination with either of the two and that government companies control either of them strategic alliance from this type.
However, the new vision Lopez Obrador On clean energy it should open the door to more investment in renewable energy sources. It can also help Mexico To attract Investments From foreign companies With commitments that obligate them to provide themselves with an ever-increasing proportion of Electricity from these sources.
However, this opportunity increased to Renewable energies in Mexico It may not extend to companies specialized in this field all over the world. Call Lopez Obrador In Washington to the largest Economic integration of North America It will deepen the already overwhelming dependence on Mexico Around United State. This, along with national energy policies that directly conflict with the terms Free trade between Mexico and the United States and Canada (T-MEC), helps explain his decision to negotiate directly with US energy companies.
There is no similar logic in the case of European companies. until when Lopez Obrador He meets with the heads of American companies to solve a problem Operational Challenges of Mexican Energy Nationalismthe country’s energy regulator continues to refuse operating permits for Wind and solar power installations in Europe.
east nationalism Combined with the FTA, it appears to create corporate favoritism United State For energy, by the way, the regional deepening of North America.
At the same time, it is unlikely that just accept Lopez Obrador That the energy transfer going on itself solves the bottleneck for electricity Mexico. no increase in Investing in clean energy It will inevitably adhere to the condition that private investors work with Federal Electricity Authority. It will also be constrained by the severe lack of confidence in the country’s overall investment climate.
Revised President’s Approach Lopez ObradoInvesting in renewable energy may allow you to avoid the immediate challenges of United State of its energy strategy under the terms of the Treaty Free trading. But it will not translate into enough investment to produce a reliable, cheap, and clean electricity supply to meet the needs of a growing economy.
The EU-Mexico meeting born certain hopefull to improve bilateral relations Increasing investment opportunities in Renewable energy Americans are not like Europeans.
* The author is a professor at the University of Southern California and an advisor to Monarch Global Strategies
