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-Editorial
Francisco Fuentes Arestegui, president of CANACINTRA, took the podium to present the annual report of the organization’s activities during the past year. The event, attended by industry leaders and members, shed light on CANACINTRA’s important contributions to fostering growth and development within the sector.
For the industrialists of Mexicali, the supply of energy continues to be the main element that directly impacts the competitiveness of their companies, which is why many of the efforts are focused on the authorities responsible for energy matters, both at the Federal and State levels.
“Investment will be essential, the creation of jobs, and the rule of law will be essential for our city of Mexicali to continue growing,” Fuentes Arestegui said.
During 2023, the energy situation in the State, particularly in Mexicali, was very similar to previous years, above all, uncertainty regarding the possibility of continuing to suffer from an energy shortage since there was no certainty that the recently built generating plants by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), would be operating at their capacity. It is important to remember that during 2023 the corrective protocol used by CFE to reduce the generation gap was not called.
Fortunately, the additional generation of energy by the new plants managed to greatly reduce the energy gap reaching 600 megawatts (MW).
However, the energy situation once again became relevant for industrialists since in the recent summer period there were, continuous, significant blackouts and interruptions in the electrical energy service, seriously affecting the industry by remaining, in many cases, several hours without electrical service.
This lack of energy, in several areas of the city, was caused by maintenance and capacity problems in CFE’s electrical distribution systems, which, together with weather phenomena that occurred during the summer period, highlighted the weak electrical infrastructure and the poor response capacity on the part of CFE as it does not have enough personnel and equipment to deal with this type of emergency.
For this reason, CANACINTRA’s efforts during this past summer period focused on the need for investments to be made by CFE to strengthen the distribution systems and thus avoid the constant blackouts that meant great losses to the industry; as well as impacts on many citizens who had to protest in a significant way for the parastatal to reestablish electrical service in several areas of the city and the valley.
It is important to mention that, on this topic, several meetings were held with the head of CFE, Mr. Manuel Aguilar, and his work team, where the need to strengthen the distribution infrastructure was explained, as well as allocate greater resources to have sufficient equipment and personnel to respond to any emergency expeditiously.
In response to their requests, it is important to mention that CFE strengthened its staff by assigning personnel from other parts of the country to respond to any emergency, with the commitment to the program, 2024, and important investments in distribution systems.
As a topic to highlight during 2023, we can mention the agreement of understanding that CANACINTRA signed with the State Government on energy matters, which establishes the commitment of both bodies to work in a coordinated manner on this matter.
Lastly and as a relevant point, CANACINTRA promoted the creation of the specialized energy table which will be made up of representatives of the private sector and will be led by
CANACINTRA. This table has already started the first work and will be the sole voice on energy matters for the Mexicali business sector.
At the end of 2022 the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC)
announces a cut and savings measures in the supply of water from the United States that amounted to 128 million cubic meters, of which, 42 million will be due to savings and 86 million due to cuts, representing a total annual cut of 7% based on international agreements and based on the levels presented by dams in the United States of the water flow of the Colorado River.
With these cuts, the total annual water flow that Baja California will receive through the Colorado River fell from 1,850 to 1,722 million cubic meters.
Faced with this panorama caused by a drought and the drop in dam levels in the United States, they continued to manage a series of meetings with authorities from the three levels of government to continue monitoring the water supply and the impact the city could have and particularly the industrial sector in the face of these cuts.
Since 2022, the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) has informed that these cuts will not affect Mexicali, since our municipality has enough water to satisfy the needs for the next 30 years, totally different from the situation experienced by the municipality. the coastal area where the problem is big.
However, this does not mean failing to implement savings and efficient use of water measures, especially in the Mexicali Valley where the highest water consumption and waste occurs.
For CANACINTRA Mexicali, water and energy constitute the two most important elements for the competitiveness of the sector, they continue to pay attention to changes in water allocation by the United States and of course, encourage our companies associated with implementing campaigns to raise awareness among their collaborators so that the efficient use of water in industries and homes is a constant, since water is a factor of economic development and generator of wealth.
Regarding the return of CANACINTRA as a member of the board of directors of the State Commission of Public Services of Mexicali (CESPM), during 2023 the participation of CANACINTRA in the board of directors of the
CESPM through local deputies and state authorities, although it should be established that until now this decision is in the hands of the State Executive.
