Venezuela’s National Assembly has voted unanimously to open the country’s electricity sector to private investment, ending a state monopoly that has lasted almost two decades, as daily blackouts drive protests across the country.
The reform, approved on Tuesday, amends the Organic Law of the Electric System and Service and allows private companies to generate, distribute and sell power for the first time since Hugo Chávez nationalised the sector in 2007. Firms can enter through joint ventures with the government lasting up to 25 years, while oil producers may build power plants for their own fields. A new superintendency will oversee tariffs and service standards.
It is the latest opening pushed by interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who is seeking private investment in oil, gas and mining following the United States’ ouster of then-President Nicolás Maduro in January. The government has also signed an agreement with the US industrial group General Electric to begin restoring the deteriorating grid.
The vote comes against a backdrop of acute failure. Venezuela generates roughly 12,000 megawatts against demand that peaked at 16,400 megawatts in September, according to Reuters, and less than 40 per cent of its generation capacity is currently available. Much of the west of the country lacks power for at least a few hours every day.
In Táchira state, rationing that once came in four-hour blocks has stretched to 18 and even 20 consecutive hours without power. Heriberto Labrador, a 60-year-old dairy farmer there, told Reuters it had been at least 10 years since his business could use milking machines or refrigerators. “The only thing we’re worried about is how long will it take for a company to establish itself, and when will we begin to feel the benefits so that these power cuts go away?”
The blackouts have spilled onto the streets. In early November, protests over power cuts ran across at least ten states, with residents blocking roads, burning tyres and banging pots and pans in cacerolazos. In Los Guayos, in Carabobo state, residents said they had been without electricity for about a day before demonstrating; in Barquisimeto, cuts lasted up to 11 hours a day.
A study by the consultancy ANOVA Policy Research found that 62.8 per cent of Venezuelan households experienced daily electricity cuts in 2026, up from 37.1 per cent in 2024, while only 6.9 per cent reported a continuous supply.
Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, the interim president’s brother, insisted the reform “no way promotes privatization” of the sector, saying the opening was necessary so the private sector could also provide electricity, “especially to large consumers, and above all to industry”. Households that cannot pay full price will keep a subsidised rate on the state grid, though the tariffs private generators will charge have yet to be published.
The government says it is working to stabilise the system. Electricity minister Rolando Alcalá has pledged to add 1,300 megawatts of generation in the final quarter of 2026, and Rodríguez said in October that agreements with General Electric and Impsa would add 7,400 megawatts. But investors remain cautious: the cash-strapped country has not guaranteed payments to suppliers that could help shore up the grid, and the Inter-American Development Bank is still drafting a two-year engagement plan for Venezuela.
Sources: Reuters (https://brazilenergyinsight.com/2026/11/11/venezuela-lawmakers-open-crisis-hit-power-sector-to-private-investment/), AFP (https://app.ekkow.com/1493074870814770054), Al Jazeera (https://www.apexnews.com/en-TZ/news/desperate-how-venezuela-s-power-cuts-fuel-growing-public-anger-35bbfca3261006en_tz).
