Monterrey, Mexico—a 1,100-MW power plant owned by Spain for the past 20 years iberdrola Outside Mexico’s industrial capital, SA has kept the lights on for several companies such as the brewing giant heineken NV, despite winter frosts, a tornado and the occasional brush fire.
But since January, half the gas-fired plant has been forcibly shut down by Mexico’s government, which it argues has been robbed of Mexico by private energy companies like the Spanish conquistadors of old. The power shutdown forced dozens of firms in Monterrey to return to the inefficient and more expensive state-run utility for their electricity.