Browse Honduras Daily Stories

Honduras is separating ENEE's generation, transmission, and distribution into distinct state-owned companies and creating an independent system and market operator, mirroring reforms other Central American nations completed 20–25 years ago.

Honduras's electric-sector overhaul, which restructures ENEE and addresses transmission infrastructure and technical losses, will take at least two years to meaningfully reduce blackouts while the government executes infrastructure investments and tackles the utility's 120-billion-lempira debt.

President Nasry Asfura highlighted the state electricity utility's financial crisis, citing cumulative losses of 118 billion lempiras (about $4.7 billion) as a central challenge facing the administration.

Congress President Tomás Zambrano gave the opposition Liberal Party 15 days to present a counter-proposal on energy reforms for state utility ENEE, warning that without agreement the executive could pursue alternative measures including a presidential decree.

Cohep president Anabel Gallardo called on Congress to pass the long-delayed energy law reform, warning that continued inaction weakens ENEE's governance and could deter investment.

Cohep's president warned that technical losses, theft, and illegal power tapping in the national grid represent resources that could be redirected to health, education, and infrastructure, and called for Congress to approve an energy-law overhaul to strengthen state utility Enee.

Honduras ranks third in Central America for residential electricity costs at $0.236 per kilowatt-hour, but economists say the true cost to users and public finances is far higher due to losses at the state utility Enee, debt servicing, and an incomplete energy-sector reform.

State power utility ENEE accumulated a L11.2 billion (about $450 million) deficit in the first seven months of 2026, with energy theft and illegal connections accounting for roughly 75% of losses, according to a civil-society analysis presented to energy regulators and Congress.

Anabel Gallardo, president of Honduras's business council (Cohep), warned that chronic electricity shortages and lack of legal certainty continue to discourage foreign investment and job creation in the country.

President Nasry Asfura called on Congress to approve energy-sector reforms aimed at reducing financial losses at the state-run electricity utility ENEE.

ASJ, a civil-society organization, urges Congress to focus energy-sector reform solely on overhauling the state power utility ENEE to improve efficiency, reduce blackouts, and lower costs for poor households.

Liberal and National Party lawmakers said they are close to agreement on energy reforms to modernize the electric system and rescue the troubled state utility ENEE, with key protections for public assets including hydroelectric dams.

Honduras is considering opening its electricity market to multiple operators in generation, distribution, transmission, and sales—similar to Costa Rica's hybrid system—to boost investment, diversify energy sources, and increase regional competition.

State institutions have accumulated over 20 billion lempiras (roughly $800 million) in unpaid electricity bills to ENEE, with much of the debt dating back more than 15 years; the utility is auditing its accounts receivable and also grappling with 34% energy losses due partly to theft.

Lawmakers are negotiating a bill to rescue the troubled state electrical utility ENEE and modernize its aging infrastructure, with Congress leadership saying a formal vote could come this week or next.

The research organization Sendas called for energy-sector reform to be built on political independence, reduced technical losses, financial recovery, greater market competition, and accountable leadership to address ENEE's structural crisis, which cost the utility about $530 million in uncollected revenue during 2025.

Dante Mossi, former president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, says the government lacks a public strategy to manage ENEE's $1 billion debt to power generators, a $700 million sovereign bond due in January 2027, and roughly $3 billion in stalled infrastructure projects including roads, dams, and hospitals.

The head of Honduras's business association warns that the state power utility ENEE has 122 billion lempiras ($4.9 billion) in liabilities against 54 billion in assets, and risks having to return to costly diesel generation unless Congress approves new energy legislation and competitive bidding within months.

Finance Secretary Emilio Hernández Hércules said Honduras is proceeding with an open auction of the presidential aircraft and plans to issue up to 16 billion lempiras (about $640 million) in bonds, with proceeds aimed at paying accumulated debts to electricity generators and addressing the state power utility's financial crisis.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Honduras's electric regulator (CREE) published a comparative analysis of the electric-sector reform bill showing how negotiations between the President, Congress, and the Liberal Party shifted the final version approved on August 12, with added restrictions on state utility ENEE.

Lawmakers remain divided on proposed reforms to Honduras's state electric utility, with some demanding modifications or deletions to specific articles and disagreement over whether modernization requires privatization.