Venezuela moves to open its power sector to private investment after years of blackouts
Key takeaways
- The measure ends the monopoly held for more than 15 years by the state-owned National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec), though it still requires a second debate and final ratification in the coming days.
- The text allows private companies, mixed enterprises and firms with minority state ownership to take part across all chains of the service, alongside the state.
- The reform is part of the economic opening Venezuela has pursued since Delcy Rodr guez became acting president in January, after Nicol s Maduro was removed from power in a US operation.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Venezuela's National Assembly gave initial approval to a reform of the electricity law that opens the sector to private investment through long-term concessions, in an effort to reverse the collapse of a service battered by blackouts for two decades. The measure ends the monopoly held for more than 15 years by the state-owned National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec), though it still requires a second debate and final ratification in the coming days.
The text allows private companies, mixed enterprises and firms with minority state ownership to take part across all chains of the service, alongside the state. It also provides for an overhaul of the tariff scheme —with rates that reflect the real cost of service and allow a reasonable return— the end of long-standing subsidies, and the operational decentralization of Corpoelec.
The reform is part of the economic opening Venezuela has pursued since Delcy Rodr guez became acting president in January, after Nicol s Maduro was removed from power in a US operation. The process, which has already reached the hydrocarbons and mining frameworks, has the explicit backing of Donald Trump's administration, which argues the changes will revive commercial activity to the benefit of US companies and the Venezuelan population.