Do Mexico’s New Power Sector Rules Favor the State?
What do the new rules in Mexico’s power sector entail, and why have the sparked controversy among energy companies and local industry groups?
Héctor Castro Vizcarra
Mexico | Former Non-Resident Senior Fellow & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Saavi Energía,
˙
Héctor Castro Vizcarra was a non-resident senior fellow with the Energy, Climate Change & Extractive Industries Program. He is currently the chief corporate affairs officer at Saavi Energía, a private power producer in Mexico. He is also the former minister for energy affairs at the Embassy of Mexico to the United States. He was appointed by the secretary of energy to represent the Secretariat of Energy (SENER) in North America and served from June 2014 to November 2018. During that period he worked with seven Mexican ambassadors on the implementation of the reform that opened the Mexican energy sector to private participation as well as on the renegotiation of NAFTA. He deepened Mexican collaboration with the White House, the US Department of Energy, and the US Department of State, and also led Mexico’s “Energy and Diplomacy” initiative, which gathered more than 25 diplomats from varying countries.
Prior to assuming this position, Castro worked at the Electoral Court of the Federal District in Mexico City, the Ministry of Health under the Department of Legal Affairs, the US-Mexico Border Health Commission, and the National Council for Education Development. In addition to the public sector, Castro has been an associate at several leading Mexican law firms, as well as a professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California and the Escuela Libre de Derecho, and a columnist at a Mexican newspaper. His work has been published by the Escuela Libre de Derecho.
Castro obtained a law degree from the Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico City and studied strategic political analysis at CIDE (Center for Economic Research and Teaching) in Mexico City. He also participated in a political communication summer program at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in government and political administration at the Complutense University of Madrid.
As the representative and spokesman for SENER in North America he explained the new Mexican energy model at several forums, engaged with industry, and coordinated the bilateral agenda with the United States government on energy policies.
Analysis See all
Blog See all
Retracting the Reform: AMLO’s Repudiation of Renewables
A private long-term power auction and changes to Clean Energy Certificate rules are major developments in a challenging new context for Mexico’s renewable energy sector. Nate Graham, assistant for the Energy Program, asked non-resident senior fellow Héctor Castro Vizcarra about their implications.
AMLO’s Energy Sovereignty: A Pipeline Dream?
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has shaken up Mexico’s energy industry even more than anticipated. Nate Graham, assistant for the Energy Program, posed some questions to non-resident senior fellow Héctor Castro Vizcarra to discern where the country’s energy sector is headed.
