Legislators Should Include The Social Sector

Industry leaders are convinced that discussions around the proposed electric reform in congress must include the social sector, so that concerns and support are voiced and independent legislators are better prepared to make decisions.

Consultora Ursus Energy Director Santiago Arroyo pointed out that “pressures exist,” in President López Obrador’s proposed energy reform.

Arroyo warns that possible future legal actions could happen should the reform be approved and that the articles amended have gotten an impetus following cabinet members meetings with US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar

Last week, Republican legislators voiced their “grave concerns” to Ambassador Salazar for American energy investments in Mexico in the wake of the reform, as reported by MBN.

“The United States will protect its investments and this is a sign of the support that foreign companies will receive, especially if they are Mexican companies with foreign financing, which they will receive from the North American authorities," Arroyo said.

Arroyo said open parliaments have a good “raison d'être”, given that the organic legislation of the legislative power contemplates them. “I am confident that these parliaments will have a utility in sensitizing legislators regardless of the bench or the position they take,” he stated. These open parliaments are meant, Arroyo said, to include the social sector in the discussions around the electric  reform.

Arroyo highlights that there is a possibility that discussions at congress will include not only the usual business and government sectors, but also from additional “key players” in the industry like the social sector.

Arroyo concluded that one of the achievements of the 2013 Energy Reform has been the participation of social sectors in discussions around the energy industry, further increasing the necessity and opportunity for legislators to include them during this reform’s discussions, so that “there is one more voice that could raise awareness, especially in this demand for clean, more efficient, and cheaper energy such as renewable energy.”