Browse Honduras Daily Stories

The STENEE electrical workers' union says the International Monetary Fund's evaluation of Honduras should build on the recent power-sector reform law, which the union argues removed legal barriers to needed institutional investment and allowed ENEE to establish internal oversight and a structured loss-reduction plan.

René Alfaro, a former ENEE administrator, says Honduras's energy reforms have not yet produced tangible results and warns that tying financing to five-year loss-reduction targets lacks technical clarity and could hamper the state power utility's recovery.

Energy Secretary Eduardo Oviedo said Honduras is drafting terms for a new electricity-generation auction split into two stages—one adding roughly 600 megawatts and a later phase potentially 1,000 megawatts—pending congressional approval of pending energy reforms; the sector will need about $6 billion in investment across generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.

Congressman Rumy Bueso said the Liberal caucus rejects the government's energy reforms, arguing they weaken state utility ENEE, and will introduce a counterproposal to strengthen the public company without privatization.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Central Bank President Roberto Lagos said Honduras holds $11.5 billion in international reserves—enough to cover 6.7 months of imports—and projects 3.5% economic growth this year, though he cautioned that energy-sector reforms are needed to attract investment and push growth above 4%.

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.