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An economist at Honduras's national university says the state power utility's financial crisis, unresolved across multiple administrations, risks becoming unsalvageable if deterioration continues.

The president of Honduras's National Association of Industrialists says Congress should approve an energy-sector reform bill quickly, with a 20-year validity period, arguing that depoliticizing the issue and pursuing it on technical grounds will unlock investment and jobs.

A National Party congressman says proposed reforms to Honduras's energy law aim to rescue the state utility ENEE from financial collapse—it loses about 1.5 billion lempiras monthly—and denies the measure includes privatization, calling reports of a selloff false.

Roberto Díaz del Valle, a leading hotel operator, says rising electricity tariffs are squeezing operating costs and threatening hotel revenues, while warning that reforms to energy law alone will not solve ENEE's crisis.

The state electricity company has scheduled power cuts across five departments on July 10 for grid maintenance, with outages lasting between two and eight hours depending on the region.

Congresswoman Marixa Julín (PINU-SD) said Honduras's power crisis demands reform, noting that companies owe the state power utility nearly 20 billion lempiras ($800 million) and that outdated contracts dating to the 1990s energy crisis must be renegotiated to protect consumers and reduce losses.

Former ENEE chief Erick Tejada accused the current utility head of signaling a government drive to privatize Honduras's electricity sector, citing France, Costa Rica, and other nations as examples of successful public energy systems.

The organization Sendas warned that Honduras's planned electricity-sector reform needs a dedicated, autonomous administrator with real decision-making power to implement structural changes, noting that fragmented responsibility across multiple agencies and weak institutional continuity have hindered past efforts.

Frequent blackouts across Honduras are causing daily losses to small and medium-sized businesses, with some municipalities reporting up to 14 outages daily and Congress stalled on energy reforms.

The national utility ENEE will cut power on July 9 across parts of Colón, Cortés, El Paraíso, and Olancho for seven to nine hours of distribution-network maintenance, affecting residential, commercial, industrial, and rural zones.

The private-sector business council estimates that power outages—averaging 21,200 hours of unmet demand annually—cost Honduras about L1.2 billion (roughly $48 million) per year in lost productivity, equipment damage, and generator expenses, while the government pushes stalled reforms to strengthen the state electricity utility.

Edgar Aguilar of the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) says proposed reforms to rescue the state power company ENEE lack fundamental components, while the ASJ has separately presented its own proposals to restructure ENEE's debt and reduce its financial burden.

Honduras's state power utility ENEE has announced widespread outages on July 7 affecting Colón, Santa Bárbara, Cortés, Copán, Francisco Morazán, and Olancho departments between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for scheduled maintenance work.

Defensores de Honduras called on the government and Congress to treat the end of TPS for Honduran migrants and a nearly 12% electricity rate hike as national emergencies requiring urgent policy responses.

A think tank says Honduras's state power utility loses about 15 billion lempiras (roughly $600 million) a year, blamed on political interference rather than operational needs, as Congress debates an overhaul bill opposed by some lawmakers who fear weakening the company's market role.

Economist Amparo Canales warns that rising electricity rates risk setting off cascading inflation and further increasing the cost of living for Hondurans.

The Tegucigalpa municipal government and the state power company are removing unused cables from poles along the historic center's main streets between the San Rafael bridge and near the Health Ministry, aiming to improve urban appearance and reduce hazards.

The state power utility ENEE will conduct maintenance and grid improvements across Tegucigalpa from July 6 to 10, cutting electricity to dozens of neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, and businesses during working hours each day.

Amparo Canales, former president of Honduras's College of Economists, says energy reforms will require foreign investment and must avoid politicization, while improving the state power company ENEE's efficiency and protecting its assets from privatization.

A transformer installed during the Castro administration will be connected to reduce blackouts in the southern departments of Valle and Choluteca, according to Libre congressman Fabricio Sandoval.

Honduras's national electricity company announced scheduled power cuts in Tegucigalpa on Saturday, July 4, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. affecting downtown commercial zones and surrounding neighborhoods for maintenance work at the Miraflores substation.

About 400,000 subscribers of Honduras's state electricity company ENEE owe more than L12.5 billion (roughly $500 million) in unpaid bills, according to the utility.

Consumer advocates project that adjustments to electricity tariffs will increase the price of Honduras's basic food basket by about 800 lempiras (roughly $32).

A Libre congressman argues that collecting millions owed by large corporations to the state electricity utility ENEE would shore up its finances and make privatization unnecessary, and has called for public disclosure of the major delinquent accounts.

ENEE has scheduled maintenance-related power cuts in San Pedro Sula on Friday, July 3, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., affecting residential neighborhoods, businesses, schools, and institutions across two service areas.

ENEE manager Guillermo Peña Panting disclosed that the state electric utility's largest debtor is the government and its institutions, which owe approximately L14 billion of the utility's L18 billion in total accounts receivable.

Congress and the state power company agreed Thursday to resolve chronic blackouts and transmission failures in Choluteca and Valle departments within 15 days, with over 30 crews working on distribution and transmission substations to implement technical fixes.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Honduras called for broader, technically-grounded public debate on proposed electrical-sector reforms, emphasizing that any modernization must preserve ENEE's state ownership and protect Honduran households and businesses from service disruptions and high costs.

José Azcona, a Liberal Party engineer and former congressman, argues that the government's proposed restructuring of the state power utility into three private-market companies would effectively privatize the electricity market and raise costs for poor consumers, though he says ENEE can be rescued without direct privatization.

Carlos Hernández, director of the advocacy group ASJ, warns that the state power utility ENEE has received 46 billion lempiras over four years while carrying a debt exceeding 100 billion lempiras, and continues to suffer from high losses, unfocused subsidies, and electricity theft.