Energy Transition and Climate Program non-resident senior fellow Leonardo Beltrán recently contributed an article to Mexico Business News comparing the impacts AI has on computing with the potential benefits that increased energy efficiency could yield for Mexico’s power system. He argues that energy efficiency offers Mexico a fast, low‑cost, and strategic way to improve reliability, competitiveness, and economic resilience.
OPINION ARTICLE:
Artificial Intelligence is transforming computing not because it builds more data centers, but because it makes existing infrastructure dramatically more productive. AI extracts more value from the same hardware. It optimizes processes, reduces waste, and increases output without necessarily expanding physical capacity.
Energy efficiency plays the same role in the energy sector.
It does not drill new wells. It does not construct new power plants. It does not lay transmission lines across the country. Instead, it extracts more economic value from every kilowatt-hour already generated. It reduces losses, optimizes systems and increases productivity, quietly but profoundly.
In that sense, energy efficiency is the artificial intelligence of Mexico’s energy system. And in today’s context, it may be the most strategic lever the country has.
Mexico’s electricity system is tightening. Industrial demand is rising rapidly, particularly in the north and central manufacturing corridors. Automotive production, advanced manufacturing, logistics hubs, and data centers are expanding. Investors evaluating long-term commitments increasingly ask one question first: will there be reliable, affordable power?
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