Playa del Carmen and CFE Agree on Plan to Solve Power Outages

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and the local government have agreed to create a permanent working group to tackle the city’s recurring power outages, following complaints from residents at a public hearing led by Governor Mara Lezama.

The biweekly group will review the progress of infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening the municipal power grid. Its first follow-up meeting is scheduled for August 31, according to Luis Armando Herrera Quiam, general secretary of the Playa del Carmen city council.

Herrera Quiam said the initial meeting included neighborhood representatives, state government secretary Cristina Torres Gómez, and Héctor Aguilar, CFE’s Yucatan Peninsula regional manager.

CFE outlined several medium-term projects, including completing a substation near the General Hospital within eight months to redistribute demand from the city’s most overloaded circuits. Another substation in the La Guadalupana neighborhood is expected to begin operating in four months, and a third facility is planned for the northwest side of the city, backed by roughly 250 million pesos in private investment.

Authorities also said overhead infrastructure recently finished at the intersection of Lilis and Constituyentes avenues will help divide the electrical load among high-demand neighborhoods such as Las Flores, Villas del Sol and Palmas.

At the local level, councilman José Luis “Chanito” Toledo proposed creating a Municipal Fund for Electrical Contingencies, using up to 10 percent of the city’s 2026 public lighting fee revenue — estimated at more than 87.5 million pesos — to compensate families and businesses affected by voltage fluctuations and service interruptions.

Governor Mara Lezama said she will continue direct negotiations with CFE to ensure sufficient energy supply for all of Quintana Roo.