Cancún outages persist despite new CFE substation

Cancún, Quintana Roo — More than two months after the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) brought the Leona Vicario substation online, residents say power failures continue to disrupt the city.

Users report that blackouts persist despite the new infrastructure, part of a broader effort to meet growing demand in the region. According to the National Center for Energy Control (Cenace), electricity consumption on the Yucatan Peninsula is expected to grow 3.9 percent annually through 2028 and 3.6 percent through 2037, while demand is projected to rise 4.9 percent and 4 percent over the same periods.

The Leona Vicario substation began operating in its first stage two months ago. A third stage of the Nizuc substation, also in Cancún, has been activated, yet residents still face frequent outages.

The Leona Vicario–Riviera Maya transmission line carries 400 kilovolts through 82 steel towers along a 39.01-kilometer route. CFE established a 36-meter-wide right of way for the project, which is designed to serve growing demand in Puerto Morelos and the municipality of Benito Juárez, where Cancún is located.

In June, the substation and a separate 105.5-kilometer transmission line entered service. CFE said at the time that the project would directly benefit 718,334 users in Cancún and the Riviera Maya.

The region has the fastest-growing energy demand in Mexico. According to the state Secretariat of Ecology and Environment, Quintana Roo outpaces Yucatán and Campeche in electricity consumption. Since 2021, the Yucatan Peninsula has recorded an average annual increase of 6.7 percent in energy requirements.

Quintana Roo alone accounts for more than half of the peninsula’s demand, consuming 5,471 gigawatt-hours annually.

José Saadia, manager of Serfimex Solar, said the state has an opportunity to strengthen its energy independence through solar solutions and storage systems. Serfimex Capital plans to develop 50 new projects between the second half of 2026 and the end of 2027, with an estimated investment of 1 billion pesos.

The Center for Economic and Budgetary Research (CIEP) reports that the industrial sector accounts for 42.3 percent of the state’s electricity consumption, of which 28 percent comes from the hotel industry — the highest such share in the country.