The part abou rates being lower in Mexico than the US is utter nonsense. Not even close to true. Rates in Mexico are higher…in some areas and seasons, and for larger consumers (residential and commercial) the rates are significantly higher than most parts of the US.
Not close to true for you, but that doesn’t make it untrue for everyone. I pay $35 USD a month for electricity in Mexico. NEVER had electric that cheap before. Moving to Mexico to live like an American is very expensive, but there is alternatives that you can choose that will make this article true to you also. ;-)
I pay about twice as much for power here than I did in Texas. There I had central a/c and heat running year-round, washer and dryer, and a dishwasher. Here I only run one window unit 3-4 months out of the year, and no dryer or dishwasher so you’d think I’d pay less…not 2x more. :(
Merry if you really use minimal electricity you should speak to CFE. Every customer starts with a DAC level, this is the basic electricity usage and is subsidized by the government if you stay within the 400 KW per month EVERY month throughout the year and your bill is about $70 pesos a month. As you use more electricity you are bumped up through different pay structures, but not just for that month, you are bumped up for an entire year and you lose the subsidy that pays nearly 50% of your bill. What you pay per KW over the 400 allotted each month depends on where you live, it’s broken down into zones. For Vallarta anything within 5 blocks of the beach is the highest rate in the country. The US Department of Energy states the average cost per KW in the US is .16 in the USA and CFE states the average in Mexico is .10. So it’s is factual that electricity on the average is much cheaper than in the USA, but you are rewarded greatly for conserving energy in Mexico and really hammered if you don’t. :) Count how many items are plugged into your walls right now, that will tell you. And unplug items, including the TV, toaster, blender, microwave, fans, AC, and other things when you are not using them.
Hopefully, eventually, privatization of the electric companies that will allow for private investment into the electric grid, money the government does not have. It would be nice, but energy reform is still keeping the biggest piece of the pie for the government to ensure continued corruption. Of course just my personal opinion ;)
CFE is taking bids to build 16 new electric power plants over the next couple of years… more supply MIGHT bring rates down a bit. Of course, the transmission and distribution system is also a mess… hopefully a plan will emerge to regionalize the system for better efficiency… and less loss.
John Coake
This is a very informative article. It would have been great if Vallarta Dailey had a way we could e-mail articles like this to other people who don’t have access to this website.
The part abou rates being lower in Mexico than the US is utter nonsense. Not even close to true. Rates in Mexico are higher…in some areas and seasons, and for larger consumers (residential and commercial) the rates are significantly higher than most parts of the US.
Not close to true for you, but that doesn’t make it untrue for everyone. I pay $35 USD a month for electricity in Mexico. NEVER had electric that cheap before. Moving to Mexico to live like an American is very expensive, but there is alternatives that you can choose that will make this article true to you also. ;-)
I pay about twice as much for power here than I did in Texas. There I had central a/c and heat running year-round, washer and dryer, and a dishwasher. Here I only run one window unit 3-4 months out of the year, and no dryer or dishwasher so you’d think I’d pay less…not 2x more. :(
Merry if you really use minimal electricity you should speak to CFE. Every customer starts with a DAC level, this is the basic electricity usage and is subsidized by the government if you stay within the 400 KW per month EVERY month throughout the year and your bill is about $70 pesos a month. As you use more electricity you are bumped up through different pay structures, but not just for that month, you are bumped up for an entire year and you lose the subsidy that pays nearly 50% of your bill. What you pay per KW over the 400 allotted each month depends on where you live, it’s broken down into zones. For Vallarta anything within 5 blocks of the beach is the highest rate in the country. The US Department of Energy states the average cost per KW in the US is .16 in the USA and CFE states the average in Mexico is .10. So it’s is factual that electricity on the average is much cheaper than in the USA, but you are rewarded greatly for conserving energy in Mexico and really hammered if you don’t. :) Count how many items are plugged into your walls right now, that will tell you. And unplug items, including the TV, toaster, blender, microwave, fans, AC, and other things when you are not using them.
Good question!
The big question is: what changes are coming to CFE under Mexican energy reform?
Hopefully, eventually, privatization of the electric companies that will allow for private investment into the electric grid, money the government does not have. It would be nice, but energy reform is still keeping the biggest piece of the pie for the government to ensure continued corruption. Of course just my personal opinion ;)
CFE is taking bids to build 16 new electric power plants over the next couple of years… more supply MIGHT bring rates down a bit. Of course, the transmission and distribution system is also a mess… hopefully a plan will emerge to regionalize the system for better efficiency… and less loss.
This is a very informative article. It would have been great if Vallarta Dailey had a way we could e-mail articles like this to other people who don’t have access to this website.