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Power reform clears committee with no promise of cheaper bills

The government's overhaul of Panama's electricity law cleared its first vote on Tuesday 6 October. The National Assembly's Commerce and Economic Affairs Committee approved Bill 705 in first debate. The bill amends Law 6 of 1997, the framework law for Panama's electricity sector, including the distributors that bill households (TVN, La Estrella). Committee chair Jamis Acosta said deputies studied about 115 proposed changes to the original 27-article text. The bill now goes to the full Assembly for second and third debate, where it can still change. It is not law.

Nexo, which compared the committee changes with the current law, notes that neither the bill nor the approved text includes a figure for how much household bills would fall. The consolidated first-debate text had not been published at the time of writing.

What the approved text would change

  • Distributors would have to bring power to unserved rural areas outside their concessions, as part of their core duties (TVN, La Estrella). The Energy Secretariat says about 5% of households still have no electricity (TVN). Nexo adds that those rural projects would count as assets in the tariff, and their cost has not been published.
  • For claims over appliances damaged by voltage swings, and for bill credits that come from sanctions, distributors would first have to comply with the order from ASEP, the utilities regulator, before going to court (TVN).
  • The deadline for a distributor to answer your complaint would drop from 30 to 15 days. If you are up to date with payments, you can already leave the disputed part of a bill unpaid, and a complaint that gets no answer in time is resolved in your favour (Nexo).
  • You would gain a right to credits on your bill when service quality fails, once ASEP's ruling is final. A distributor's appeal against a compensation order would not stop the payment (Nexo).
  • The profit premium used to set distributors' returns would fall from 8 to 7 points, and energy losses above ASEP's target would be paid by the distributor, not the customer (Nexo).
  • The interventor, an administrator ASEP can appoint to run a distributor, would be written into the law (TVN). Repeated poor quality and failing to electrify rural areas would become grounds to lose a concession from 22 October 2028 (Nexo).

What was left out

The committee dropped a proposal to give technical autonomy to the National Dispatch Centre (CND), which coordinates the power system (Panamá América, Nexo). It also rejected proposals from the Vamos bench to let customers choose who sells them energy, to pay automatic compensation for outages, to publish outage indicators every quarter and to credit rooftop solar through net metering (Nexo). The Vamos bench says it will bring its proposals back in second debate (Nexo).

Why 2028 matters

The concessions of the three distributors, Edemet, Edechi and ENSA, expire on 21 October 2028. ASEP administrator Zelmar Rodríguez has said the tender for 51% of each company must be called at least a year earlier, and that this timetable does not depend on the reform (Nexo, 24 September).

What it means for expats

Nothing changes on your bill yet. If you dispute a bill now, put the complaint in writing with your distributor, keep the claim number, pay the undisputed part and take it to ASEP if there is no answer. If a power surge damages an appliance, photograph it, keep the repair estimate and file the claim, because the reform targets exactly those cases, though it is not law yet. If you rent, check whose name is on the electricity account, since claims and credits follow the account holder. If you are planning rooftop solar, net-metering credits were not added in this round. And do not confuse this Law 6 of 1997 with Law 6 of 1987, the retiree-discounts law.

Sources

  • TVN - Commerce Committee approves Bill 705 in first debate; 27 original articles, about 115 proposed changes; rural electrification duty; ASEP orders first on voltage-damage claims and sanction credits; interventor; about 5% of households without power (Energy Secretariat) - 6 Oct 2026 (17:14 Panama) - https://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/reforma-electrica-comision-comercio-aprueba-primer-debate-asamblea-nacional_1_2264662.html
  • La Estrella - Bill 705 advances to second debate; rural electrification; competition and majority-share sale provisions - 6 Oct 2026 (17:03, upd. 19:03 Panama) - https://www.laestrella.com.pa/panama/nacional/proyecto-que-reforma-el-marco-electrico-avanza-a-segundo-debate-PO26280953
  • Panamá América - National Dispatch Centre autonomy withdrawn; Vamos amendments rejected; session under 90 minutes - 6 Oct 2026 (19:30, upd. 7 Oct 07:45 Panama) - https://www.panamaamerica.com.pa/economia/al-final-no-incluyeron-autonomia-de-centro-de-despacho-en-proyecto-de-electricidad-1267170
  • Nexo - What changes in your bill: no bill-cut figure; premium 8 to 7 points; losses above target; complaint deadline 30 to 15 days; quality credits; 30% capacity cap; rejected Vamos proposals; concession grounds from 22 Oct 2028 - 6 Oct 2026 (18:55 Panama, upd. 7 Oct) - https://nexo.la/reforma-electrica-factura-servicio/
  • Nexo - ASEP timetable: Edemet, Edechi and ENSA concessions expire 21 Oct 2028; 51% tender called at least one year earlier, independent of the reform - 24 Sep 2026 - https://nexo.la/concesiones-electricas-2028/
  • Destino Panamá - Committee approval after three consultation sessions with distributors, generators, users and the Executive - 6 Oct 2026 - https://destinopanama.com.pa/2026/10/comision-legislativa-de-comercio-aprueba-proyecto-que-modifica-reglas-del-servicio-electrico-en-panama/