Energy Laws Pass Chamber of Deputies

Mexico's Chamber of Deputies has approved secondary laws complementing the country's Energy Reform. The legislation establishes a new legal framework for energy transition activities and the electric and hydrocarbons sectors.

The bill was approved with 270 votes in favor, 93 against, and zero abstentions. The approval followed a debate in which lawmakers from multiple parties — Morena, PAN, PT, PRI, and MC — proposed various amendments. The legislation includes eight new laws and modifications to two existing ones. The laws aim to give preponderance to PEMEX and CFE over private companies in the sector.

The approved legislation includes the Law of the Public State Company of CFE, the Law of the Public State Company for PEMEX, the Law of the Electric Sector, the Law of the Hydrocarbons Sector, the Energy Planning and Transition Law, the Biocombustibles Law, the Geothermal Energy Law, and the Federal Energy Commission Law.

These changes aim to strengthen national energy sovereignty, reduce dependence on the private sector, and prioritize national energy security, well-being, and sustainability of resources. The reforms also seek to give clearer regulatory guidance for private sector participants, improve oversight capacity, and enhance technical regulation of the energy sector.

SENER says that this package of reforms is the basis needed to guarantee a strong, reliable, and sustainable energy sector, with national sovereignty and energy justice as its guiding principles. The ministry adds that the secondary laws were designed under the conviction that energy is a strategic input for the well-being of the people and the development of the country, and not a mere commodity.

The new legislation recognizes for the first time the concept of energy justice; that is, actions aimed at reducing energy poverty, social and gender inequalities in the use of energy, and establishes resources to carry them out.

In the electricity sector, the prevalence of the CFE is guaranteed and it will maintain at least 54% of the energy injected into the grid. This will ensure the supply of this basic service from a rights perspective, avoiding profit, in addition to not increasing rates above inflation.

In the hydrocarbons sector, PEMEX is strengthened and given preference in the determination of exploration and extraction areas. Its fiscal regime is also simplified, and the payment of duties is simplified by unifying them into a single one: the Petroleum Right for Well-being.

These initiatives are complemented by the creation of the National Energy Commission (CNE) to facilitate the operation of the sector and establish clear rules and new mechanisms for private sector participation