Mexican Power Grid At Risk Due To Extreme Weather

As temperatures reach triple digits in Mexico, the country's electric system is at risk due to increasing electricity demand.

On Tuesday, the National Energy Control Center reached a historic low electricity reserve, prompting them to declare emergency operation status, Inside Climate News reported.

The local media has reported a number of blackouts in 12 states in the last two weeks.

The National Electricity Federation said that the daily demand reached nearly 51,000 megawatts per hour and is projected to peak even higher at 51,782 megawatts per hour.

Despite rising energy concerns, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador claimed that the alert from Cenace has been "routine."

Lack of Investment

Experts claimed the lack of investment in electric systems has left Mexico unprepared for the effects of climate change and extreme heat, The Guardian reported.

"While the energy demand has steadily increased, energy generation hasn't increased in the past five years," said Carlos Flores, an energy expert and head of Lightsource BP.

In 2014, the Mexican Congress approved energy reforms where private companies using and providing clean energy were supposed to replace the state-owned fossil fuel plants, but the current government has reversed the law.

A Mexican think tank noted that the Federal Electricity Commission's investment in "physical infrastructure" has been the lowest in ten years.

"When you have a problem the size we have when the demand is increasing, and high temperatures are also causing demand to increase, you are facing more risks," Jesús Carrillo, sustainable economy director at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, said.

Citizens suffer the effects of power outages as they adjust to the extreme heat.

Luis Alejandro Calderón, an American citizen who lives in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, narrated that he and his wife slept on their balcony due to a power outage and the heat, as he desribed, was unbearable. The next night, they stayed in a hotel because the shortage lasted for 40 hours.

"We have never had to deal with anything like this," he told Inside Climate News. "When there is a power cut, electricity is usually back in 15 minutes."

Health Risk

Another major concern in the scorching heat was the health of the public.

On Wednesday, Mexican authorities reported that 112 people have died due to heat-related illness this year, including 69 deaths in just one week, Aljazeera reported.

The health ministry stressed this fatalities are nearly three times higher than the overall heat-related deaths in 2022.

Most of the deaths were recorded in northern state of Nuevo Leon, near the borders of Texas. There were also cases in Tamaulipas and Veracruz on the Gulf coast.