Make CFE pay for the Damage

CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) is the state-owned electric utility of Mexico. It is the country’s only electric company, and the country’s second most powerful state-owned company after Pemex. The Mexican constitution states that the government is responsible for the control and development of the national electric industry, and CFE carries out this mission.

During the rainy season it’s common in Puerto Vallarta to have problems with their electrical lines (Powercuts and transformers exploding). Sometimes these problems can damage computer equipment and electrical appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators or TVs.

If CFE has caused these damages you are entitled to compensation from them. The process could be slow, and the lenguage to keep going will be entired in Spanish.

Start your process in CFE offices

electrician-cfe-repair

The CFE office for cases related to Puerto Vallarta is located at Calle Colombia 1118 in 5 de Diciembre and for Bahía de Banderas at Calle Heroe de Nacozari 39, Bucerias, Centro. This process is slow and the paperwork will be all in Spanish so if someone can help you will be very helpful for the process.

The process is totally free, to do so you must have a current contract with CFE and you must be up to date with the payments of your bill.

What CFE will require:

  • In case of you are not the account holder of the service, you will have to present your rent lease, in case you are not the owner.
  • The claim must be within 30 days of the day the failure occurred, as well as a written description of the incident.
  • Present original and copy of an official identification (INE or passport

The process

1. Go to the nearest service center and fill out the form to request the inspection

2. The form must mention the day and time the events occurred

3. CFE employees will visit your home to verify the failure that was reported

4. A technical opinion will be issued to indicate whether or not the compensation of the damages is approved.

5. “In the event that CFE determines that compensation is necessary, the ownership of the devices must be accredited by means of a factura or purchase reciept.”

6. To follow up on your request, you can go to the service center where you made the request or call 071.

If you’ve had damages to your electrical equipment or appliances due to a power outage, make sure that CFE is responsible for the damage before moving forward.  If they are not responsible and it was caused by an accident or other third party event, then there is no way of getting compensation from them. The process can be long but if someone helps you with paperwork in Spanish it will go much more smoothly. We recommend that you also use voltage regulators, battery backups, and surge protectors to protect your electrical equipment. We hope this article helps you in the process.