Energy Reform

Local authorities and small and medium-sized businesses in western Honduras called for approval of electricity-sector reforms, saying constant blackouts cause up to 100 million lempiras (about $4 million) in monthly losses.

Attorney Omar Menjívar argues that a bipartisan electrical-sector reform advancing in Congress would leave the state-owned utility ENEE intact but progressively transfer control of power service delivery to private companies, citing the precedent of Hondutel's decline after losing core telecom functions to private providers.

The Liberal Party's Congress members say they secured a clause prohibiting direct and indirect privatization of Honduras's national electricity utility, though they continue to raise concerns about sector competition, tariff reduction, energy theft, and the company's debt relief plan.

A study by the Honduran private-sector council found that blackouts and electrical interruptions cost businesses approximately L1.2 billion (about $48 million) a year, with small firms hit hardest, as the government pushes energy-sector reforms.

The Tegucigalpa Chamber of Commerce called for structural reforms to Honduras's electricity system, saying chronic outages and service failures at the state utility ENEE are harming businesses and threatening the country's competitiveness.

Edgar Aguilar, an energy analyst at the ASJ (Foundation for the Study of Applied Law), says the National Congress's failure to advance an energy reform bill poses a direct fiscal risk to Honduras as the state utility ENEE continues to post multimillion-lempira losses.

The US Embassy welcomes the Asfura administration's push to reform Honduras's electricity law, saying the changes would attract US investment, boost economic growth, strengthen energy security, and improve reliable and affordable power access for Hondurans.

The Liberal Party's congressional bloc said it will not support a reform to the state power utility (ENEE) unless the proposal explicitly guarantees the company will not be privatized.

Congress opened a first reading of an 18-article bill to reorganize Honduras's electrical system, with stated aims to lower costs, improve service, reduce blackouts, and keep state utility ENEE in public hands.

Pending congressional reforms to Honduras's electric sector guarantee that ENEE employees will retain their union affiliation and benefits even after the state utility is restructured into separate generation, distribution, and transmission companies, and explicitly reject any privatization.

Members of the Libre party blocked an entrance to Congress and staged protests against proposed energy reforms set for first debate, with the party's congressional leader Ronald Panchame saying they oppose privatization of the state utility ENEE.

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.

A Congressional energy commission is drafting reforms to modernize the state-owned power utility ENEE through internal reorganization of transmission, distribution, and billing operations, while ruling out privatization and pledging to protect worker job security.

Finance Vice Minister Lilian Rivera said international lending institutions' backing for state utility ENEE reforms could create opportunities for future financing to strengthen and modernize Honduras's power sector.

The European Union's ambassador to Honduras endorsed proposed reforms to the country's electric industry law, saying the model mirrors European approaches and would improve service while lowering tariffs through renewable-energy incentives.

The World Bank, IDB, CAF, and BCIE have endorsed the government's plan to split the state electricity company into three entities for generation, transmission, and distribution, but critics warn it masks privatization and demand broader public consultation.

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 Inter-American Development Bank said it supports Honduras's energy reforms, which aim to fix structural problems in the electrical system and ensure long-term sustainability, and pledged to help with implementation.

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.

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.

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 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.

A proposal by the current director of Honduras's state electricity utility to reorganize its structure into three separate companies and create an independent grid operator would undermine state control and pave the way for privatization, according to former ENEE manager Erick Tejada.

President Nasry Asfura said his administration will not privatize the state power utility ENEE but will pursue efficiency reforms and modernization to address the company's mounting losses, which he called Honduras's main economic problem.

A banking and finance expert says reforming Honduras's electric system could help recover over 16 billion lempiras ($640 million) in losses and reduce the fiscal burden on the national power company, which has weakened since 1990.

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.

The Latin American Development Bank (CAF) endorsed Honduras's proposed electricity-sector reform, saying it would modernize the energy system, attract foreign investment, and improve service quality while offering support for implementation.

The government is pursuing an electrical-system reform that would restructure the national utility company (ENEE) into separate generation, transmission, and distribution units to reduce annual losses exceeding 16 billion lempiras and free resources for health, education, and infrastructure.

President Asfura introduced a bill to modernize ENEE, Honduras's state electric company, through operational restructuring aimed at recovering more than 16 billion lempiras annually in system losses that could be redirected to health, education, roads, and social programs.

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.