DRIVING PERFORMANCE OF MEXICO'S ENERGY REGULATORS = IMPULSANDO EL DESEMPEÑO DE LOS ORGANOS REGULADORES EN MATERIA ENERGETICA DE MEXICO

Nota: Disponible en inglés y español.

Resumen (español) Como "árbitros del mercado", los órganos reguladores necesitan estar constantemente en alerta, dar seguimiento a las tendencias y evaluar el impacto de sus decisiones. ¿Qué debería medirse? ¿Es posible atribuir las consecuencias a las decisiones de los órganos reguladores? ¿Cómo hacer un uso eficaz de lo que se mide? ¿Cómo optimizar la gobernanza y la estructura organizacional del regulador? Abordar estas preguntas con eficacia puede determinar en última instancia si los trenes llegarán a tiempo,si sale agua limpia en la llave, si las luces encienden, si el teléfono y el internet funcionan y si hay dinero en los cajeros automáticos. Para ayudar a los reguladores a definir cómo evaluar mejor su desempeño, la OCDE ha desarrollado un Marco para la Evaluación del Desempeño de los Reguladores Económicos (PAFER) que observa a las instituciones, los procesos y las prácticas que ayudan a los reguladores a mejorar su impacto. Este informe aplica el PAFER a la gobernanza externa del sector energético de México y a sus tres órganos reguladores: la Agencia de Seguridad, Energía y Ambiente (ASEA), la Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) y la Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE), luego de una reforma estructural del sector y de sus instituciones reguladoras. Lo complementan estudios de la gobernanza interna de los tres órganos reguladores, constituyendo una estructura integral y única sobre la gobernanza regulatoria del sector energético de México. Es parte de la serie La gobernanza de los reguladores, que conjunta investigación y recomendaciones para ser "órganos reguladores de clase mundial", recurriendo a experiencias de más de 70 reguladores económicos de los sectores de energía, comunicaciones, transporte, agua y sistemas de pagos.

Abstract (¡english): As "market referees", regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. To be successful, regulators need to be constantly alert, informed by live data, checking sectoral trends and assessing the impact of their decisions. The performance of regulators is also largely determined by their internal governance (their organisational structures, behaviour, accountability, business processes, reporting and performance management) and external governance (roles, relationships and distribution of powers and responsibilities with other government and non-government stakeholders). To help regulators in their quest for better performance assessment, the OECD has developed an innovative framework that looks at the internal and external institutions, processes and practices that can enhance regulators' performance.

This review is the first of a series that applies the OECD Performance Assessment Framework for Economic Regulators (PAFER) to the three key regulatory institutions overseeing Mexico's energy sector: the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment (ASEA), the National Hydrocarbons Commissions (CNH) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE).

In this report, the framework is applied to the external governance of Mexico's energy sector and its three regulatory bodies, the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment ASEA), the National Hydrocarbons Commissions (CNH) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), following a structural reform of the sector and its regulatory institutions. The review offers insights into the progress and challenges in the implementation of the reform, highlighting the importance of structured coordination and accountability mechanisms based on a common strategic agenda, alignment of processes for good regulatory outcomes as well as sufficient operational flexibility. The report is complemented by forthcoming reviews of the internal governance arrangements of the three regulatory agencies, constituting a comprehensive body of work on the regulatory governance of Mexico's energy sector.

The review comes at a critical moment in Mexico's implementation of a structural reform aunched in 2013 that has opened up the energy sector and overhauled the role and functions of its regulatory institutions. This review looks at the overall regulatory governance of Mexico's energy sector, assessing how the three regulators work with each other and with other stakeholders (external governance). It is complemented by reviews of the internal governance arrangements of the three regulators; together, these reviews present a comprehensive picture of the regulatory governance of Mexico's energy sector. The review offers insights into the progress and challenges of reform implementation. The reform has strengthened the regulatory framework of the energy sector, granting greater responsibility and autonomy to regulators. This is essential for the effective functioning of markets that are being opened to competition. Greater responsibilities and autonomy have also created new governance challenges.

The review underlines the need for transparency and clarity with regard to roles and responsibilities of regulators whose functions have been modified as a result of the reform. These new roles and responsibilities should be communicated to all stakeholders and implemented through working plans complete with targets, with the aim of minimising overlaps. The review also recommends more structured coordination mechanisms among the growing number of federal entities in the energy sector. Effective coordination will also need to be complemented by active accountability mechanisms between the regulators and their constituents, in particular with Congress.

Executive summary

Assessment and recommendations

Chapter 1. Methodology and approach - Analytical framework - Performance indicators - Approach - References

Chapter 2. Sector context - Institutions - Institutional and regulatory reform of the energy sector - References

Chapter 3. External governance of the energy sector - Role and objectives - Input - Process - Output and outcome - Notes - References