Mexico’s State-First Power Sector Overhaul Comes Up Short in Congress

A constitutional overhaul of Mexico’s electric power sector failed to garner the supermajority of votes needed to pass the lower house on Sunday.

The proposal advocated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sought to consolidate the market power of state-owned Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

Prominent business groups praised legislators for halting the proposal, which had drawn public criticism from U.S. officials as violating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“In a democratic process, and within the institutional channels established by the legal framework, the legislators decided with their vote,” said Mexico’s Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE), a prominent business chamber.  

The bill would have dissolved power grid operator Centro...