As U.S. water goes south, Mexico cancels power to Texas

While Mexico siphons 17 percent of water annually from shrinking Colorado River-fed Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona border, when it came to Mexico coming to the aid of power-short Texas last week, that country’s Federal Electricity Commission canceled a plan to transmit temporarily 280 megawatts to the Lone Star State, observes Grumpy Editor.

Print and broadcast media, focusing on pre-Super Bowl events and the crisis in Egypt, overlooked comparing years of U.S. water delivered south of the border vs. the announced --- and soon canceled --- Mexico-supplied electricity.

For 67 years, the U.S. has provided Mexico with 1.5 million acre-feet of water per year.  That’s five times more than drought-stricken Nevada’s 300,000 acre-feet share. 

(An acre-foot covers one acre to a depth of one foot.)

Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission last Wednesday agreed to transmit to Texas 280 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 280,000 homes.

Then, in an abrupt change a day later, the Mexican agency said forget about the temporary power boost to the Lone Star State which faced rolling blackouts in some areas. 

In canceling the plan, the commission cited below-freezing temperatures in its own country causing power outages in several parts of Chihuahua state, plus it needed to ensure enough electricity to meet domestic demand.