Mexico’s constitutional amendments on strategic areas and companies, as well as administrative simplification, published in October and December 2024, respectively, have reshaped structural aspects of Mexico’s energy sector.  This includes the transformation of the State-owned utility Federal Electricity Commission (“CFE”) from a productive enterprise to a public company, the elimination of the Energy Regulatory Commission (“CRE”) as an autonomous agency, and an expansion of the powers of the Department of Energy (“SENER”) consolidating it as the sector’s coordinating authority.

The new constitutional framework marks a definitive departure from the regulatory State model that had been developed in Mexico since the 1990s. Over the past several months, its implementation has unfolded through the following milestones:

• On March 18th, 2025, the package of new energy legislation was published in the Official Journal of the Federation (“DOF”), including the Law of the State-Owned Public Company CFE; the Law of the National Energy Commission (“CNE”); amendments to the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration (“LOAPF”); as well as the sectoral laws on electricity and hydrocarbons, and other subject matters, which entered into force the following day.

• On February 28th, the CRE published a resolution temporarily suspending the acceptance of new filings, ahead of its formal dissolution.

• On April 17th, 2025, the Internal Regulations of the Department of Energy were published, establishing the CNE as a deconcentrated administrative body.

• On April 23rd, the Operating Rules of SENER’s Committee on Allocations, Contracts, and Permits were published in the DOF, and then amended per publication on June 24th.

• On May 8th, the Internal Regulations of the CNE were published, and the body formally began operations on May 21st, as announced on its website.

• On June 2nd, the CFE’s Organic Statute was published in the DOF.

• On June 5th, the CNE published a resolution to resume the deadlines and terms for receiving and processing matters within its jurisdiction, requiring any applications submitted prior to the new legal framework’s inauguration to be ratified.

• Finally, on June 24th, the Operating Rules of the CNE’s Technical Committee were published.

CNE

The CNE is a deconcentrated body that is part of SENER, as was the CRE before the 2013-2014 reforms. Its own law describes it as “sectorized” to SENER, although with technical, operational, managerial, and decision-making independence (no longer “autonomy”). This independence is restricted by several legal references to its actions “in accordance with the binding planning” of SENER, and “in line with the energy policy” established by the latter; also, by rules under which SENER shall interpret the CNE’s law for administrative purposes and the CNE must inform SENER of “any measure” that could impact the sector.

The CNE is led by a Director General, appointed by the President and ratified by the Senate. Its functions and responsibilities include legally representing the body; directing, supervising, and coordinating the activities of its administrative units; formalizing permits; issuing resolutions, among others. The Director General reports directly to the head of SENER.

In addition, the Law of the CNE establishes a Technical Committee as a collegiate body responsible for decision-making “for a better performance of its functions and to ensure transparency”. This committee will be responsible for reviewing, analyzing, evaluating, and approving the Commission’s legal actions, except for those expressly attributed to its General Director or administrative units.

The CNE’s Technical Committee includes the heads of SENER, the Undersecretaries of Electricity and Hydrocarbons of such ministry, CNE’s Electricity and Hydrocarbons Units, and three technical experts from the energy sector. The Director General participates as a permanent guest and is responsible for implementing resolutions. This differs from the governing body of the former CRE, as there will no longer be deliberation among peers within public meetings.

Despite these changes, and the removal of express legislative grounds, the public registry of permits and resolutions has fortunately been maintained under the Internal Regulations of the CNE.

Resumption of deadlines

Transitory provisions in the Law of the CNE established the suspension of deadlines for a period of 90 calendar days starting March 19, in order to facilitate the administrative transition.

Subsequently, the resolution to resume deadlines established that, as of June 6, 2025, the CNE was fully authorized to receive, process, and resolve matters under its jurisdiction. It also confirmed that its official filing office remains at the same address previously used by the CRE.

Since then, the CNE has issued various resolutions granting permits in the hydrocarbons and electricity sectors, including a generation permit for a ~150 MW solar power plant to be located in Puebla. Significantly, this was the first permit granted for a large-scale private renewable energy project under the current administration.

SENER

Under the amended LOAPF and the rest of the new energy legislation, SENER now wields broad authority as a “super-ministry” responsible for the medium- and long-term binding planning of the energy sector, as well as the coordination of all the authorities and State-owned public companies. In addition to absorbing all the functions of the former National Hydrocarbons Commission, the law states that SENER must “handle” technical and economic regulation, monitor compliance, and apply sanctions. It also provides that these functions shall be supported by the CNE and by SENER’s Committee on Allocations, Contracts, and Permits.

Similar to the CNE’s Technical Committee, SENER’s Allocations, Contracts, and Permits Committee will have the authority to review, resolve, and approve legal actions that fall within the jurisdiction of the ministry’s administrative units. 

CFE

As a result of the new law of the CFE, all its former subsidiary productive enterprises have been dissolved, consolidating the organization into a single public company that assumed all the rights and obligations of its predecessors. With the publication of its Organic Statute, the CFE’s functional and operational structure has been updated.

Thus, what was formerly CFE Transmisión became the Sub-directorate of Transmission; CFE Distribución is now the Sub-directorate of Distribution; CFE Suministrador de Servicios Básicos is now the Commercial Coordinating Unit, and the former generation subsidiaries evolved into production coordinating units. Affiliate companies, such as CFE Calificados, CFEnergía, and CFE International, were not affected by this reintegration. 

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The effectiveness of the new institutional framework of Mexico’s energy sector will soon be tested, as private stakeholders begin submitting new permit applications and the authorities begin issuing new regulations. At CCN, we wish success to the sector’s authorities, whose strong professional credentials suggest there will be technical rigor and strong regulatory quality. We will continue to keep our clients informed timely about the key developments in this evolving area.