MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Bernardo Cortés and Fernando Quesada, Cortés Quesada Abogados, S.C.
with the National Antitrust Commission (CNA), a new public instrumentality under the Ministry of Economy, having authority on economic competition matters. In addition, mixed participation projects involving CFE under PLP or mixed investment structures may be subject to specific review not only from a competi- tion perspective, but also from a strategic planning and public policy standpoint, particularly where the transaction involves CFE equity participation, strate- gic infrastructure, or projects designated as priority under PLADESE. 1.5 Central Planning Authorities SENER is the policy maker in charge of strategic plan- ning in the Mexican power sector. In addition to its tra- ditional policy role, SENER now exercises significantly broader authority over permitting, project prioritisation and market oversight following the 2024 constitutional reform and the enactment of the LSE. SENER’s planning authority has assumed a central role in the development of energy projects as a result of the 2024 constitutional reform. The LSE and the LPTE introduce the concept of “binding planning”, which requires both regulatory authorities and market participants to adhere to the official strategies, pro- grammes and objectives of the government through SENER for the construction, installation and improve- ment of power infrastructure. These are outlined in the PLADASE. PLADESE is issued by SENER each year, with a 15-year outlook for the national electricity system, and contains three- to five-year investment programmes for the development of generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, in order to ensure reliability and continuity in the NES, affordability and the consti- tutional prevalence of the State in electricity genera- tion within the NES. In addition to general planning objectives, the regu- latory framework establishes specific “binding plan- ning criteria” applicable to new generation projects, including: • contribution to demand coverage and electricity accessibility;
• reliability, continuity, quality and security of the NES; • sector efficiency; • energy transition and compliance with clean energy goals; • State prevalence through the 54% generation threshold; • energy justice; and • innovation and technological development. Failure to comply with these criteria may result in the denial of generation permits. However, the recently issued Migration Guidelines expressly exempt legacy self-supply and cogeneration projects migrating to the new legal regime from compliance with these binding planning criteria, thereby facilitating their transition to the generation and supply schemes recognised under the LSE. CFE, the CNE and CENACE are required to comply with the planning directives established in PLADESE, and new investments in the sector (including private investments) must also comply with the planning criteria established therein. The granting of permits and the regulatory assessment of business plans for new infrastructure are now tied to the consistency of such projects and the goals and priorities outlined in PLADESE. By contrast, projects migrating pursu- ant to the Migration Guidelines are assessed under the specific migration procedure established therein, rather than against the general binding planning cri- teria applicable to new generation projects. SENER may also designate “Strategic Projects” eligible for administrative streamlining mechanisms and priori- tised development, particularly for projects involving transmission infrastructure, storage, reliability sup- port or mixed participation schemes with CFE. Thus far, SENER has issued two calls for prioritising permit applications of power generation projects that are deemed to be aligned with SENER’s binding plan- ning criteria. 1.6 Recent Changes in Law or Regulation As mentioned in 1.1 Law Governing the Structure and Ownership of the Power Industry , the Mexi- can government introduced two major constitutional reforms in 2024, which substantially changed the legal regime of the power sector in Mexico: the reform on
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