Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will write off a MXN$11 billion debt-load carried by 520 thousand citizens from the state of Tabasco.
The citizens had declared civil resistance on February 1995.
State governor Adán Augusto López (MORENA), gave the announcement and assured that an agreement had been made with the state company so that, as of June 1, all debts would be pardoned. Furthermore, the CFE will make electric bills cheaper in the area.
The statesman claimed that the decision would put an end to a long struggle of thousands of citizens. “We will attend the people’s demands and write off the MXN$11 billion debt,” he stated.
“Most importantly, the people of Tabasco will be given the lowest fare in the national electricity system,” he indicated, referring to the 1F fare.
Standing before businessmen, political party leaders, senators, and local deputies, López explained that Mexico’s new administration had been working to reach an agreement with the Electricity Commission since early January.
The sole condition for the agreement is that the people of Tabasco must go before the CFE to sign a contract and choose between the traditional bimonthly billing and post-paid services.
The governor claimed that the 1F fare would apply to all 17 municipalities in the state and users will have up to 180 days to regularize their situation, adding that the 1F billing would start next month, after the agreement is signed with CFE authorities next week. However, he clarified that the agreement did not include the business sector.
The resolution was based on a study conducted by academics and investigators from the Juárez Autonomous University of Tabasco (UJAT), who had spent nine years working on a temperature and humidity diagnose in relation to energy consumption for air conditioning in Tabasco.
“Without the president’s support, this agreement, which is truly a historic accomplishment for the people of Tabasco, would not have been possible,” stated the governor.
Most of Tabasco’s defaulting debtors decided to stop paying their electric bills years ago because of their high costs.
Source: El Universal
