Overview
- EL NORTE hosted a public debate on February 20 at 5 p.m. in which Mayor Adrián de la Garza and Senator Luis Donaldo Colosio presented conflicting versions of the stalled Next Energy deal.
- The contract was signed in March 2020 under De la Garza for a 30‑year, 7,370 million‑peso solar plant in Cerralvo that was never built, leading to payments and ongoing litigation.
- Colosio said his 2021–2024 administration renegotiated the agreement to a 10‑year term totaling 4,989 million pesos with municipal solar installations, claiming savings of more than 4 billion pesos.
- De la Garza has alleged the subsequent Movimiento Ciudadano administration increased payments to Next Energy by up to 400% and forgave penalties, while noting the city collected 174 million pesos used for municipal improvements.
- Following the debate, De la Garza asserted Monterrey has not lost money under the contract and described procurement as the purview of committees, while rejecting accusations as a coordinated online attack.