Energy Secretariat sets clean energy certificate requirements 2025-2026

The Secretariat of Energy published the Agreement establishing the requirements for the acquisition of Clean Energy Certificates for the years 2025 and 2026, in the Official Gazette of the Federation of Monday, August 17, 2026, issue 223. The instrument was signed by Luz Elena González Escobar, Secretary of Energy, and has direct effects on electric power generators, load centers, and the entire sector involved in the national energy transition.

Clean Energy Certificates are an instrument aimed at promoting the use of clean energy, the energy transition, and the decarbonization of the electricity sector, by certifying that a certain amount of electric power is generated from clean sources. According to the Agreement, CELs are certificates issued by the National Energy Commission that contribute to meeting the requirements associated with the consumption of load centers.

Legal basis and purpose of the Agreement

The Agreement is issued based on various legal provisions, notably Articles 10, 143, and 147 of the Electricity Sector Law, as well as Article 186 of the Regulations of the Electricity Sector Law. It also invokes Article 60 of the Energy Planning and Transition Law, which provides that the Secretariat of Energy establishes criteria for recognizing clean energy generators and for granting CELs.

The National Development Plan 2025-2030 sets as a goal that the share of renewable and alternative sources in national energy production by 2030 be 21.50%, which reinforces the importance of this regulatory instrument in driving the energy transition.

Content of the Single Article and transitional provisions

The Single Article of the Agreement determines the requirement for the acquisition of CELs corresponding to the obligation periods 2025 and 2026. The Secretariat of Energy argues that, considering that the current regulatory, technical, and operational conditions have changed with respect to those that served as the basis for previous determinations, the previously established requirement is maintained in order to provide legal and regulatory certainty to obligated parties and to favor compliance with the energy transition objectives.

In its transitional provisions, the Agreement establishes that the requirements for the acquisition of CELs corresponding to the years 2027, 2028, and 2029 must be determined and published by the Secretariat of Energy through the corresponding legal instrument, in accordance with the Electricity Sector Law, the Energy Planning and Transition Law, and their respective regulations, based on the methodology issued by the Secretariat for such purpose.

Impact on the electricity sector

This Agreement has direct implications for electric power generation companies seeking to obtain certificates for their production from clean sources, as well as for load centers with obligations regarding energy transition. The issuance of the instrument provides certainty to sector stakeholders regarding the minimum percentages of clean energy they must acquire through CELs for the 2025 and 2026 periods, facilitating investment planning in renewable generation infrastructure.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, number 223, August 17, 2026, Section I, p. 44 (official reference: Agreement establishing the requirements for the acquisition of Clean Energy Certificates for the years 2025 and 2026).