Mexico power watch: CRE appointment shortlist, US$200mn CFE credit line

The Mexican presidency has drafted a shortlist to appoint the head of energy regulator CRE for the next seven years.

The list comprises three candidates: current CRE president Leopoldo Melchi, as well as energy ministry (Sener) employees Alfonso López Alvarado (head of oil contracts) and Víctor Palacios (head of natural gas and petrochemicals).

Melchi's appointment would mean he would serve a second term as the regulator's head and CRE's makeup would remain unchanged. The appointment of López or Palacios would mean the entrance of a new commissioner, leaving the agency with six commissioners after the end of Guillermo Pineda Bernal's term at the end of last year.

The agency's current board includes, besides Melchi, Norma Campos, Luis Linares, Guadalupe Escalante and Hermilo Ceja. The CRE needs have at least four commissioners to hold a session. Hydrocarbons regulator CNH is currently unable to do so after the exit of Alma América Porres Luna left it with three active commissioners.

***

Mexican public power utility CFE has been granted a US$200mn loan by Latin American development bank CAF.

The line will help CFE "manage its working capital-related needs," and "attend its short- and medium-term financial needs," CAF said in a release.

The operation is part of an anticyclical credit facility CAF makes available to large utilities in a bid to help support economic reactivation, it said. It will allow CFE to avoid having to reroute resources earmarked for infrastructure investment to other spending needs.

Last year, CAF extended US$200mn in support for CFE to research battery storage and other technologies, the the bank said. In 2021, it gave the utility a US$200mn credit line to help with the liquidity stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.