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Mayors and lawmakers aligned with the Liberal Party are preparing an alternative energy proposal that would keep the national power utility ENEE under state control, combat electricity theft and meter fraud (cited as over 90% of losses), and renegotiate rates with private generators.

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.

Congressman Yuri Sabas criticized the government's energy-reform bill for lacking substantive changes, warning that ENEE could become as hollowed-out as the failed state telecom Hondutel despite holding valuable assets like major dams.

The Liberal Party caucus presented a counterproposal to the government's energy-reform law, saying it includes legal safeguards and structural guarantees to benefit Hondurans while preventing what lawmakers call privatization risks to state utility ENEE.

Congress President Tomás Zambrano declared that privatization of the national electricity company ENEE is entirely off the table, saying proposed reforms to energy law aim instead to stabilize the utility's finances and resolve the country's power crisis.

Former Energy Secretary Erick Tejada says Honduras's state power company needs eight years to recover from deep structural problems, and warns that the government's no-subsidy policy is pushing electricity rate increases onto ordinary Hondurans.

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.

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.

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.