Electricity Crisis

Vice President María Antonieta Mejía has called on lawmakers to hold a technical debate on proposed reforms to the state-run electricity company ENEE, which faces losses of about 16 billion lempiras (roughly $640 million) and is hampering public investment in education and infrastructure.

Salomón Ordóñez, the former head of state utility ENEE, says Honduras faces losing competitiveness in Central America unless it tackles two decades of governance failures in its electricity system, citing Guatemala and El Salvador's successful power-sector overhauls.

Congress is prepared to review the executive's proposal to restructure the state electricity utility ENEE to reduce its 38% loss rate—which costs the state approximately L1.3 billion monthly—and lower electricity costs for consumers.

The government will submit a comprehensive electricity-sector reform bill to Congress this week that would split ENEE into three functional divisions—generation, transmission, and distribution—aiming to cut system losses of nearly 38% and stabilize tariffs, officials say.