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Newsflash - Electric Power Sector Development Plan, Administrative Provisions and Call for New Projects
October 17, 2025 the Ministry of Energy published in the Official Gazette of the Federation: (i) the Electric Power Sector Development Plan 2025–2039 (“PLADESE”), (ii) the General Administrative Provisions for Binding Planning in Electric Power Generation Activities (the “Binding Provisions”), and (iii) the Call for the Priority Processing of Generation and Interconnection Permits for New Power Projects Aligned with Binding Planning (the “Call”). Below we include several considerations that we believe are relevant with respect to each of these.
PLADESE 2025–2039
The PLADESE is issued as the sector’s guiding instrument in accordance with the 2024 constitutional reform, the Planning and Energy Transition Law (“LPTE”) and the Electric Power Sector Law (“LSE”) published in March 2025. The PLADESE consolidates the sector’s binding planning framework and strengthens the State’s stewardship based on the transformation of Petróleos Mexicanos (“PEMEX”) and the Federal Electricity Commission (“CFE”) into State Public Enterprises. Its objectives focus on prioritizing reliability, continuity and affordability of supply, energy sovereignty and security, decarbonization and energy justice, with decarbonization targets and affordable prices. The PLADESE continues the implementation of the legal provision requiring the State to maintain at least 54% of the energy injected into the grid during each annual period and reinforces the policy of public‑private complementarity under State leadership.
In terms of the PLADESE, CFE, as the system’s strategic operator, will lead the expansion and modernization of the National Transmission Grid and the General Distribution Grids. Thus, CFE will be responsible for executing the projects instructed by the Ministry of Energy (“SENER”) with the technical support of the National Center for Energy Control (“CENACE”).
For its part, PEMEX will develop strategic efficient cogeneration projects and associated networks identified in PLADESE, for which it will contribute firm capacity and energy efficiency to the National Electric System (“SEN”) by, among other measures, articulating the natural gas system and pursuing innovation agendas such as biofuels, thereby contributing to supply security and emissions reductions in industrial and power processes.
Likewise, the PLADESE synthesizes the legal basis, diagnosis, expansion targets, network investments, energy transition and key social lines through an analysis of developments occurred between 2010–2024 and the presentation of projections for the 2025–2039 period. On that basis, the PLADESE sets out expansion plans for generation, hydrogen, storage and the national transmission grid, reiterating principles of energy justice and presenting key figures for the sector, in line with the Paris Agreement.
PLADESE seeks to ensure that the expansion of the SEN incorporates not only a technical planning approach, but also an energy and social justice approach, establishing that the Social Impact Manifestation in the Energy Sector (“MISSE”) and its social management plans are intended to ensure that every new power project developed in the country translates into tangible well‑being for communities. The MISSE is established as a binding social authorization for projects, with management and verification obligations, reinforcing the State’s protection of the social interest.
Taken together, the PLADESE sets a fifteen‑year path for an electric system it characterizes as more sovereign, reliable and affordable, with a strong emphasis on renewables, storage, grids, efficiency and energy justice, while clarifying that the goal is to maintain majority public control over injected energy and aligning expansion with climate and economic development goals.
PLADESE integrates into a single instrument the binding power plant program (PVIRCE) and the programs for expansion and modernization of the transmission and distribution grids (PAMRNT and PAMRGD).
In terms of the PLADESE, SENER instructs projects, CENACE prepares technical sheets and electrotechnical studies, and CFE executes transmission and transformation infrastructure. This circuit closes the public decision chain from the identification of needs through execution, under the principle of a minimum State participation in generation of at least 54% of the energy injected into the grid per year. PLADESE itself shows that such State participation exceeds that threshold in 2026–2030 and strengthens toward 2030, giving priority to the public interest and energy justice.
General Administrative Provisions for the Binding Planning in Electric Power Generation Activity
The Binding Provisions, overseen by SENER and reviewable annually, establish the basis for evaluating and granting of electric generation permits to align new projects with the sector planning, SEN reliability, long‑term efficiency, the energy transition and the State’s prevalence. In terms of the Binding Provisions, the National Energy Commission (“CNE”) will apply technical, economic and sustainability criteria to determine a project viability before granting permits.
The CNE must verify that each project meets all of the following criteria; it being understood that failure to meet any one of them implies denial of the permit:
contribution to demand and affordability consistent with capacity needs, technology and commercial operation schedule by region according to PLADESE;
reliability, continuity, quality and security of the SEN;
sector efficiency;
energy transition and sustainability, as are the contribution to clean energy goals and greenhouse gas mitigation, in accordance with national and international instruments;
State prevalence, that is, ensuring that private participation does not prevail over public participation and that the State maintains at least 54% of the average energy injected into the SEN per year, under economic dispatch subject to reliability and security;
energy justice, through contribution to equitable access and reduction of inequalities; it requires a Social Management Plan with a minimum investment of 0.5% of a project´s CAPEX; and
innovation and technological development through the adoption of new technologies and minimum efficiencies by generation technology.
Various responsibilities are established for the CNE, such as evaluating and aligning with PLADESE and CENACE’s interconnection studies, and verifying transition, prevalence, energy justice and innovation criteria using information from SENER; for CENACE, which will issue feasibility studies for interconnection, ancillary services and technical requirements; and for the Technical Analysis Group (“GAT”), as a technical body that reviews information derived from calls and mixed‑development projects and issues technical opinions.
Call for Priority Processing of Generation and Interconnection Permits for New Power Projects Aligned with Binding Planning
The Call was issued to provide priority processing of generation and interconnection permits for new power projects aligned with the binding planning through 2030. The objective of the Call is to strengthen the security, reliability, sustainability and efficiency of the SEN and to allow priority connection for projects in specific regions and substations identified by the Call itself.
The Call is addressed to new projects equal or greater than 0.7 MW that interconnect to the SEN and meet technical, technology and Commercial Operation Date requirements. It excludes distributed generation, projects that do not require a permit, self‑supply, cogeneration and mixed schemes.
The Call establishes (i) the mechanism and requirements for registering and monitoring permit applications through platforms such as the Single Window for Strategic Projects and the National Energy Commission’s Electronic Filing Office (“OPE”), (ii) delivery of study results (impact and facilities), describing interconnection/reinforcement works, estimated costs and technical conditions, and (iii) the need for the applicant to expressly accept the necessary reinforcement costs and works as a condition for obtaining the corresponding permit.
The priority projects subject to the Call will follow the following schedule (1):
Registration of interested participants: October 20 to 31, 2025.
Determination of interconnection payments and guarantees: November 3, 2025.
Payment for interconnection studies: November 4 to 10, 2025.
Submission of permit applications in OPE: November 11 to 18, 2025.
Review of compliance with requirements and CNE notices of deficiencies: November 19 to 21, 2025.
Response to notices of deficiencies: November 24 to 28, 2025.
Results of studies and costs by CENACE: December 2, 2025.
Acceptance by participants of costs for reinforcement and interconnection works: December 3 to 10, 2025.
Technical review and binding planning: December 11 to 16, 2025.
Approval of permits (CNE Technical Committee): December 17, 2025.
Publication of results and notification of permits: December 18, 2025.
Notification of permits: December 18 and 19, 2025.
Submission of withdrawals of applications: December 22 to 26, 2025.
Execution of follow-up and interconnection: from the date of permit notification.
Commercial Operation Date: as defined in the permit.
The conditions for issuing permits include:
- Demonstrating a structure that enables projects to obtain financing within 6 months.
Presenting a guarantee to CENACE for reinforcement works.
Obtaining social and environmental impact authorizations.
Commencing works within 6 months from authorizations.
Prohibition on assigning the permit until Commercial Operation Date.
Evaluation and eligibility criteria are established, such as:
Verification of requirements: expression of interest, compliance with permitting provisions, payment for studies, alignment with the Technical Annex, acceptance of works.
Alignment with binding planning: taking into account that SENER provides information on social investment, innovation and greenhouse gases-GHG mitigation and that CENACE provides technical studies.
If the requested capacity exceeds the Required Capacity per substation, projects that contribute greater benefit to the SEN (reliability, energy justice —greater investment in the Social Management Plan, innovation and technological development) are prioritized.
It is important to note that CENACE will calculate storage percentages applicable to intermittent technologies.
We invite you to contact your usual contacts at Ritch Mueller to discuss any matters related to the issues described in this note.
For these purposes, we provide our email address through which we can channel your inquiry to the appropriate members of our team.
(1) Amended per publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation on October 27, 2025.