CFE

Front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum also wants to make sure that the government-run Federal Electricity Commission, CFE, generates the majority of the power Mexico supplies to homes and businesses.

The 61-year-old former Mexico City mayor has also said she wants CFE to keep generating the majority of Mexico’s electricity, complicating the country’s stated desire to contribute less to global warming.

López Obrador pushed laws to give CFE plants preference over private renewable and natural-gas generating plants, even though many of the state-owned plants burn dirtier fuels like fuel oil, coal or diesel.

The courts blocked the changes, so last year López Obrador bought 13 power plants — most running on natural gas — from Spain’s Iberdrola for nearly $6 billion, calling it the “new nationalization,” ensuring that CFE generates the majority of Mexicans’ electricity.

CFE developed geothermal power generation years ago.