Mexico underwent a presidential transition in 2018 that rippled across the energy industry, with uncertainty facing the sector. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration was loud and clear from the beginning about its mandate to boost Mexico’s electricity generation and cope with the country’s increasing energy demand. His ambitious National Electricity Program, executed by Manuel Bartlett, the newly instated Director General of CFE, set a course to revamp the country’s coal-fueled power plants, geothermal plants and hydroelectric installed capacity. One key aspect of López Obrador’s plan that remains unclear is whether or not the new energy model, led by Rocío Nahle, Minister of Energy, will continue using the tools employed by the previous administration to achieve not only the goal of supplying the country’s energy demand but also aligning its energy production to its international commitment of increasing the participation of renewable energy to 35 percent of the total mix by 2024.
