During the Manuel Bartlett administration, the CFE built a gas pipeline at a cost of 3.9 billion dollars, but the Yucatán Peninsula still does not receive the natural gas it requires.
In the last four years, blackouts in the Yucatan Peninsula have become more frequent due to the lack of natural gas necessary for the generation of electrical energy, but have become more acute from March 2025.
In some neighborhoods or communities, electrical energy leaves for several hours, or days; This affects millions of people and slows economic growth from the southeast of Mexico.
The mega blackout on September 26 at 2:00 p.m. affected 2 million 262 thousand users of the states of Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roobut already They are part of the everyday landscape, with damage to the economy from homes with broken food or appliances; also for business.
The solution promoted by the Federal Electricity Commission, when Manuel Bartlett was in charge (2018-2024), was to build a gas pipeline of more than 700 kilometers, with the capacity to transport natural gas from Tuxpan, Veracruz, to Dos Bocas, Tabasco.
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A report of LatinUs indicates that the project called Door to the Southeastwith a cost of 3.9 billion dollars, was led by the Canadian company TC Energy, which announced the start-up last May.
CFE millionaire contract with Bartlett without connection in the southeast
But the electric power generating plants in the Peninsula of Yucatan still does not receive natural gas that they require to function, because the necessary connections are not ready to transport the gas.
Therefore, the problem of blackouts continues in the states of the Peninsula: Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo.
Puerta al Sureste has been operating since May, but only uses 15% of its capacity
LatinUs points out that Door to the Southeast It began operating in May, but only 15% of its capacity is used, because there are no interconnections that carry all the necessary gas to the power plants of Valladolid and Meridarecently built to guarantee the supply of electrical energy in the Yucatán Peninsula.
This is a gas pipeline approximately 70 km long that goes from two mouths in Tabasco to the Cactus gas processing complex in Chiapas, as well as the expansion of the Mayakan pipeline with a length of 700 km that crosses the states of Chiapas, Campeche and Yucatán. Without this infrastructure, gas does not arrive, blackouts continue and the population complains that they pay too much for electricity.
In the midst of constant blackouts, the population has taken extreme measures such as what happened on September 4 in the municipality of Dzemul, Yucatanwhere A CFE worker was tied to a pole due to a power outage that lasted more than 12 hours. waiting for their service to be restored.
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Bartlett does what he criticized
In her report, Cecilia Reynosos indicates that as general director of the Federal Electricity Commission, Manuel Bartlett Díaz questioned the contracts signed between the parastatal and the private sector during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto.
He says that he described them as leonine, arguing that fortunes were paid for inoperative gas pipelines that could bankrupt the CFE.
However, he adds that Bartlet Díaz ended up doing what he criticized so much and in August 2022 he signed a direct award contract valid until 2055 with the Canadian company TC Energy for the construction and operation of the Puerta al Sureste gas pipeline.
This runs 715 km from Tuxpan, Veracruz, with land and underwater sections connecting with the ports of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz and Dos Bocas in Paraíso, Tabasco, through the Gulf of Mexico.
Mexico will pay 40 million dollars a month for an underused gas pipeline
The work cost 3.9 billion dollars and could transport 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, which if it reached the Yucatan Peninsula could solve the problem of blackouts, but he still can’t do it.
There are around 200 million cubic feet per day that remain in the Dos Bocas refinery, the remaining 1,100 cubic feet per day are simply not being used.
According to estimates by the energy and finance expert, Rosanety Barrios, Mexico will be paying 40 million dollars monthly for this underused gas pipeline for 2 years 8 months (only 15% of its capacity is used) and with minimal benefits.
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Blackouts in Yucatán: millionaire contract of the Bartlett CFE is left without connection in the southeast
Government of @Claudiashein it’s a failure
The @CFEmx it spends more than 40 million dollars monthly and does not resolve the blackouts on the peninsula. pic.twitter.com/KyjboPd0JY
— José Díaz (@JJDiazMachuca) November 8, 2025