Venezuela Ends 19-Year Power Monopoly, With Oil Fields First in Line

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Venezuela has passed a law opening parts of its electricity sector to private investment, ending a 19-year state monopoly. The reform allows oil producers to build power plants for their own operations, while the state retains control of major dams and transmission lines serving households.

Venezuela is opening up its electricity sector to private capital for the first time since Hugo Chávez nationalized it in 2007, in a reform passed this week primarily to benefit oil producers and large businesses that can afford euro-pegged tariffs, while the state keeps the hydroelectric dams and main transmission lines that supply most households living with daily blackouts. The law, which the National Assembly passed unanimously on Tuesday, lets oil producers build power plants for their own fields without state authorization, as long…