On January 28, 2026, the Federal Electricity Commission (“CFE” per its acronym in Spanish) published the Guidelines for Mixed Development Schemes (the “Guidelines”) in the Official Gazette of the Federation. The Guidelines establish the minimum content of mixed investment agreements, the selection procedures for the participation of private parties in mixed development schemes, and the selection procedure for the migration of permits under the Electric Power Public Service Law (“LSPEE” by its acronym in Spanish).

By way of context, the Power Sector Law (“LSE” by its acronym in Spanish) established mixed development schemes through which the State and private individuals can develop power plants. The LSE provides for two schemes: long-term production (“PLP” by its acronym in Spanish) and mixed investment. For more details on the LSE schemes, see our client note here.

Mixed development schemes will be awarded through the selection processes detailed in Section II hereof. These selection processes are not subject to CFE’s procurement rules, but are governed by the Guidelines.

Prior to the selection process, the Joint Development Group (“GDM” by its acronym in Spanish), a CFE body composed of individuals appointed by CFE officials and representatives from other government agencies, must prepare a supporting document and model contract. CFE must prepare a financial model, considering discounted cash flows, and include it in the supporting document to demonstrate that the project has a positive return on investment. The supporting document and model contract must be submitted to the CFE’s Board of Directors for approval.

I. Mixed Investment

Pursuant to the LSE and its Regulations, the mixed investment scheme provides for joint development between the private sector and CFE, for the construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of power plants. Under this scheme, CFE must have a direct or indirect stake in the project of at least 54% of the common share capital or similar or comparable figure of the vehicle used. The mixed investment may be structured through trusts, asociaciones en participación (a Mexican law figure in many ways similar to a limited partnership), commercial companies, or any other vehicle. CFE's participation may take the form of cash contributions, contributions in kind, intangible contributions, or any other form agreed upon by the parties.

The Guidelines introduce the concept of “participation interest”, which refers to the economic or production percentage corresponding to each of the parties in accordance with the contract model. Likewise, the Guidelines specify that CFE's contributions in the form of assets and prior expenses must also be accounted for as part of CFE’s participation in the project.

a. Minimum content of mixed investment contracts

The Guidelines establish the base requirements of mixed investment contracts, which should contain, among other things:   (i) the legal structure of the vehicle, (ii) capital contributions and financing, (iii) transfers of assets, (iv) corporate governance, including veto rights and governance with defined checks and balances, (v) change in law provisions, (vi) act of God and force majeure provisions, including governmental force majeure, (vii) independent expert for technical disputes, (viii) dispute resolution with the possibility of agreeing to arbitration, and (ix) the destination of the assets at the end of the agreement.

b. Payments and costs

The costs and expenses of mixed development projects can only be recovered through their own revenue and must generate sustainable financial returns. Structuring costs must be covered by the resulting financial scheme.

c. Termination in case of breach

In the event of termination or rescission due to breach, the CFE may (i) undertake a new selection process through the restricted invitation process, (ii) operate the project by itself, or (iii) carry out any other action as determined by the GDM.

II. Selection Processes

Mixed development schemes are awarded through a selection process, which may be initiated to address any of the following modalities:

1. Specific project determined by the CFE;

2. Capacity or electricity generation technology requirement in one or more regions;

3. Electricity storage capacity or Associated Products requirement in one or more regions;

4. Project undertaken under the LSPEE that migrates to the LSE under mixed development schemes.

As a general rule, these modalities are awarded through public tender process, but they may also be awarded through restricted invitation process, competitive award process, or direct award process, in each case only when the conditions in the Guidelines are met. LSPEE project migrations will be carried out through the restricted invitation selection process.

In the case of a public tender process, there may be rounds of subsequent improved proposals.
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For any questions or comments, you can contact our expert team.