Analysis

Report Cover for Power Grab: What Mexico's State-Centered Electricity Policy Means for Trade, Climate, and the Economy cover

Power Grab: What Mexico’s State-Centered Electricity Policy Means for Trade, Climate, and the Economy

Over the past two years, the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has sought to strip away central aspects of the 2013 energy reform that increased private investment in the power sector and return control of the sector to state utility CFE. These moves will reduce needed investment in the sector and lead to higher electricity costs for Mexican industry and manufacturing, affecting employment, trade, and Mexico’s ability to meet its clean energy targets, according to this new report by the Inter-American Dialogue.

Lisa Viscidi, Nate Graham, Sarah Phillips

Reports ˙ ˙ Download Report

Video

The Oil from Ipanema

Brazil has vast oil reserves, but can the Bolsonaro government get the energy to market? Lisa Viscidi tells Richard Miles of CSIS that reforms are already in place that will enable oil production “to take off.” The real obstacles are the financial stability of Petrobras, the shaky state oil conglomerate, and the monopoly that the state has on most aspects of energy production, delivery, and even retail sales.

Lisa Viscidi, Richard Miles

Interviews ˙ ˙ Center for Strategic & International Studies

Can Mexico Run on Clean Energy?

President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador can capitalize on Mexico’s enormous renewable energy potential and make Mexico a leader in the fight against climate change. Although his platform offers some promising proposals, he will have to maneuver through several major obstacles.

Lisa Viscidi, Nate Graham

Articles & Op-Eds ˙ ˙ The New York Times

The Energy Solution Latin America Needs

If the region increases renewables to 80% of the electricity matrix and expands integration, countries can save billions of dollars in investments, avoid blackouts and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, argue Lisa Viscidi and Ariel Yépez.

Lisa Viscidi, Rigoberto Ariel Yépez-García

Articles & Op-Eds ˙ ˙ The New York Times

US-Latin America Energy Investment

While the Trump administration’s “America first” policies are aimed primarily at giving higher priority to national security and economic growth for the United States, the White House’s approach will have impacts on energy relations with the rest of the hemisphere that should also be considered.

Lisa Viscidi, Rebecca O’Connor

Reports ˙

Oil and Commodities: The End of the “Age of Abundance”

Across Latin America, the sustained decline in global oil prices has had a profound impact on economic growth, political stability and the viability of resource nationalism – when governments assert more control over the nation’s natural resources.

Lisa Viscidi, Rebecca O’Connor

Reports ˙ ˙ Italian Institute for International Political Studies

Mexico’s Energy Reform & the Skills Gap

Mexico has no shortage of skilled workers but needs to better align the qualifications of its graduates with the needs of the energy sector.

Lisa Viscidi

Event Summaries ˙