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ENEE manager Guillermo Peña Panting said a bill to reform Honduras's electricity system is in advanced legislative stages and aims to attract private investment in generation, transmission, and distribution to address chronic blackouts and improve service reliability.

The state utility's financial manager said ENEE has a strategy to meet near-term obligations and restructure its debt, and that pending energy reforms will boost confidence among lenders and potential investors.

The Libre party's congressional bloc has proposed a popular consultation to let Hondurans decide the future direction of ENEE, the state electrical utility.

President Nasry Asfura declared the state power company's financial losses and accumulated debt the country's chief economic concern, pledging to stabilize operations while keeping it publicly owned and freeing resources for health, education, and infrastructure.

ENEE announced planned power cuts on June 16 across multiple zones for scheduled maintenance and infrastructure work.

Roberto Lagos, president of Honduras's central bank, says failure to approve an energy sector reform will perpetuate ENEE's structural problems, mounting debt, and operational losses, and has secured backing from international multilateral organizations.

The state utility ENEE will cut power across industrial parks, commercial centers, and neighborhoods in San Pedro Sula on June 16 from 8:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. for maintenance work on two distribution circuits serving the Bermejo substation.

Honduras's state power utility is issuing bonds in the national financial system to raise liquidity and settle accumulated debts to electricity generators, officials say, aiming to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

Former energy official Guillermo Peña Panting warns that Honduras faces potential loss in international arbitrations filed by electricity-sector investors at the ICSID, citing the current administration's reforms to contracts signed under prior legal frameworks.

Finance Minister Emilio Hércules clarified that a proposed law on the state-owned electricity utility ENEE would keep 100% of the three linked companies under government ownership, with any decisions requiring Congressional approval.

Samuel Rodríguez, a renewable energy generator, said electricity rates are due for adjustment because high fuel prices driven by the US-Iran conflict are raising energy production costs.

The Honduran Association of Electricity Producers warns that structural inefficiencies—including theft, non-payment, and infrastructure losses—are forcing citizens to bear rising costs, and urges competitive market reforms to improve service and lower prices.

The national utility ENEE will cut power to various areas of Honduras on Saturday, June 13, for scheduled grid maintenance and upgrades, with outages lasting up to six hours in affected zones.

Honduras's state power utility ENEE requires L35.4 billion (roughly $1.4 billion USD) in domestic debt from 2026 to 2029 to cover payments to private generators, amid losses exceeding 34% and a total debt burden now at L73.3 billion.

Honduras's power regulator confirmed a third-quarter rate increase taking effect July 1, driven by higher generation costs, fuel prices, and lempira depreciation; the exact percentage will be announced within days.

The union representing ENEE employees opposes splitting the state utility into three private companies and proposes instead an internal reorganization by distribution, operation, transmission, and generation aimed at reducing losses while keeping the utility public.

Honduras's business council endorsed the government's proposed energy reforms but called for stronger legal protections, independent regulators, and a phased breakup of the state utility ENEE to reduce technical losses and attract investment.

The head of the Cortés Chamber of Commerce warned that a new increase to electricity rates will reduce competitiveness in the industrial region.

The state power utility ENEE has scheduled power cuts across Puerto Cortés, Ocotepeque, Copán, Olancho, El Paraíso, and Francisco Morazán on June 11 for preventive maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, and transmission-line clearing.

A Fosdeh economist argues that measures now being negotiated to stabilize Honduras's state electric utility must become permanent policy to prevent future administrations from reversing reforms, as has happened repeatedly.

The Honduran business chamber (CIMEQH) called for a halt to a proposed electric-sector reform, citing risks that the legislation could drive up utility rates and lead to privatization of public power assets.

Congress is moving toward approving a structural reform that would divide the state-owned ENEE into three separate commercial entities for generation, transmission, and distribution, with energy experts warning the changes open a path to privatization and could weaken the utility's financial stability.

The state power utility is installing a 30-megawatt transformer at the Santa Rosa de Copán substation (over 50 million lempiras, roughly $2 million) and building a 5-kilometer transmission line to reduce low-voltage problems affecting thousands of customers across Copán, Lempira, and Ocotepeque.

Business leaders warn that persistent inflation and rising energy costs remain the top concerns for Honduras's economy, with April's year-over-year inflation reaching 5.56% and Middle East instability driving up fuel prices.

The World Bank recommended splitting Honduras's state power utility ENEE into three separate units for generation, transmission, and distribution in 2007, but the government did not act; losses have since grown from 25% to 38% of revenue, and experts say the breakup is now urgent.

The ENEE's financial manager said new transmission infrastructure projects will be funded through private investment drawn by sector openness, not public debt alone, to accelerate Honduras's energy development.

The opposition LIBRE party faction says the government's draft energy reform is privatization disguised as modernization and is calling for a popular referendum, arguing that Hondurans—not lawmakers or private interests—should decide the future of the state-owned utility ENEE.

Milton Puerto, president of Congress's Energy Commission, says private companies will be barred from using assets of the state electricity utility ENEE as collateral when seeking investment loans.

The national power utility announced scheduled maintenance and emergency repairs Friday, June 12, affecting neighborhoods across Tegucigalpa, Comayagüela, and the north coast during different hours, including the National Stadium and major commercial zones.

Honduras's business council submitted proposals to modernize electricity regulations under review by Congress, urging independent regulators and stable rules to strengthen the grid and attract investment.