Will Government Truly Fix Energy Tariffs During Pandemic?

One way the Mexican government is helping its citizens get through COVID-19 pandemic is by making sure they do not pay too much money for energy consumption. This measure is likely to be welcomed by families in Mexico, since long hours locked at home can possibly lead to higher energy spending. Nonetheless, industrial users still face uncertainty about a possible increase in energy prices.

CFE announced on April 19 that households would not be classified differently under a high consumption rate (DAC) on their energy bill, regardless of steep increases in energy use. El Universal reported that the main objective was to keep people at home – considered main priority for this policy.

One concern for energy users is that while rates might be frozen, the general price for energy could still go up. This means that regardless the rate consumers have, an increase can raise prices across the table. CFE denied that last week energy prices increased by 4 percent. In fact, last week CFE did notify users about an increase in energy prices (MX$0,002), which is to say less than a cent.

The increase in prices might not only concern regular energy users. Industrial users see a different increase, reported the president of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (CONCAMIN) Francisco Cervantes, on Twitter. He said that it is incomprehensible that there was a 4 percent increase in the country's electricity rates for April, suggesting that the bill has indeed gone up for industrial users. Cervantes added that even though prices in the energy market were dropping, the already struggling industrial sector still had to pay more. Neither CFE nor government officials have commented on CONCAMIN’s accusation at the time of writing, adding to uncertainty for consumers in both the domestic and private sphere.