César Emiliano Hernández Ochoa is a Mexican public official, lawyer and academic from Durango, Mexico. Hernández has a long trajectory inside the Mexican government, having worked in every Mexican federal administration since Ernesto Zedillo and received presidential appointments both from Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Enrique Peña Nieto. From December 1, 2018, until May 15, 2020, he served as National Commissioner at the Commission for Better Regulation. From February 5, 2014, until November 21, 2017, he served as Deputy Secretary of Energy for Electricity at Mexico's Department of Energy.
Early life Hernández holds two law degrees from UNAM, Licenciatura en Derecho (LLB, 1989), and Doctorado en Derecho (SJD, 2007). He also holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD, 1994) from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
He has served as National Commissioner at the National Commission for Better Regulation (by Presidential appointment); Head of the Planning, Institutional Relations and International Affairs Unit, at the Federal Economic Competition Commission; Deputy Secretary of Energy for Electricity, at the Ministry of Energy (by Presidential appointment); General Counsel of the Ministry of Energy; General Director of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Economy; General Director at the Office of the General Counsel of the Federal Executive; and General Director for Long Distance Telephone Services at the Federal Commission of Telecommunications.
Director General for Foreign Trade, at the Ministry of Economy As Director General for Foreign Trade and President of the Foreign Trade Commission (COCEX). Mr. Hernandez led the Single Window for International Trade Project (Ventanilla Única de Comercio Exterior, VUCEM), together with Customs Mexico. It was the first large project that constructed a single electronic system to process customs and foreign trade authorizations in Mexico.On the history of the Mexican Single Window for International Trade project see Anaya Rojas, Javier, and Mirón Medellín, Mónica, "Creación y desarrollo de la Ventanilla Digital Mexicana de Comercio Exterior", in Martínez Trigeros, Lorenza and Hernández Ochoa, César (coords.), La política del comercio exterior. Regulación e impacto, México, ITAM/Secretaría de Economía, 2012, pp. 325-348. The Single Window was launched by President Felipe Calderón together with Bruno Ferrari, Secretary of Economy, on January 16, 2012.The Single Window is a tool that allows economic operators to send electronic information, only once to a single entity, to comply with all requirements of foreign trade. This is possible through the standardization and automation of business processes including the simplification of 40 documents, 165 proceedings and 200 different data elements.
Mr. Hernandez also coordinated the development of Mexico's regulatory system for export controls. Together with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hernandez negotiated the accession of Mexico to the international export controls systems, the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, the Australia Group, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.On the history of Mexico's export controls system and accession to the international export controls regimes see Guerra Morales, Pedro Francisco and Mena Aguilar, Oswaldo Ariel, "El nacimiento del sistema mexicano de control de exportaciones", and Sandoval Mendiolea, Juan, "México y los regímenes internacionales de control de exportaciones: Un compromiso renovado con la seguridad internacional", in Martínez Trigeros, Lorenza and Hernández Ochoa, César (coords.), La política del comercio exterior. Regulación e impacto, México, ITAM/Secretaría de Economía, 2012, pp. 29-271, and pp. 273-284. On January 20, 2012, Mexico was admitted to the Wassenaar Arrangement. and
Deputy Secretary of Energy for Electricity, at the Ministry of Energy
Mr. Hernandez was a leading figure in the 2013-2014 Mexican Energy Reform. Initially he served as Chief Legal Counsel at the Ministry of Energy on February 1, 2013, and as Secretary of the Board of Directors of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and Secretary of the Governing Board of Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). He served on those positions for one year.
On February 5, 2014, he was appointed Deputy Secretary of Energy for Electricity by President Enrique Peña Nieto."Nombramientos de Subsecretarios en la Secretaría de Energía por instrucciones presidenciales", Secretaría de Energía, Boletín de Prensa 012, February 4th, 2014. https://www.gob.mx/sener/prensa/nombramientos-de-subsecretarios-en-la-secretaria-de-energia-por-instrucciones-presidenciales As Deputy Secretary of Electricity between 2014 and 2017 he coordinated the design and implementation of the most comprehensive legal and regulatory reform in the power sector of Mexico since 1938, creating the wholesale electricity market, establishing an independent system operator, unbundling Mexico's national electric utility (CFE), and designing clean energy certificates to enforce the national clean energy goals for the sector. Furthermore, he led the team that designed and implemented the first three long-term power auctions for renewable energy that resulted in some of the lowest solar and wind electricity prices in the world in 2016 and 2017.
During his four-year tenure as Mexico's Deputy Secretary of Energy for Electricity, César Hernández and his team at the Ministry of Energy worked in the implementation of Mexico's 2013 Constitutional Energy Reform. Among others, four new laws directly related to the electricity sector were published, and the Ministry of Energy electricity technical team coordinated by Dr. Hernández was instrumental in its drafting: the Electricity Industry Law and the Geothermal Energy Law, the Law of the Federal Electricity Commission, and the Energy Transition Law.
Creation of Mexico's First Electricity Markets Additionally, during Dr. Hernández' tenure as Deputy Secretary, the Ministry of Energy wielded regulatory powers for the creation of a new Wholesale Electricity Power Market that would later be transferred to independent regulatory bodies (the Energy Regulatory Commission, CRE; and the National Center for Energy Control, CENACE). The 2014 Electricity Industry Law gave the Ministry of Energy powers to "issue the first Electricity Power Market Rules on one sole occasion".Third Transitory Provision, Electricity Industry Law. Accordingly, several regulations were published as part of the first Electricity Power Market Rules. In this matter, the Secretary of Energy published the Bases of the Electricity Market (September 8, 2015) along with several manuals.
Creation and Implementation of Mexico's first Renewable Portfolio Standard In the matter of transition to clean energies, during Dr. Hernandez's tenure the Ministry of Energy published the Guidelines that establish the criteria for the granting of Clean Energy Certificates and the requirements for their acquisition (October 31, 2014), and the Clean Energy Certificate Mandatory Requirements for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Independent Long Term Planning of Electricity System Development The Electricity Industry Law established that the Ministry of Energy would publish, each year, 15 year programs for the development of the Mexican electricity system (formerly planning was professional, but not independent, done by the national electric utility, CFE). In the matter of electricity system planning, during Dr. Hernández's tenure the Ministry published the first three Programs for the Development of the National Electricity System (PRODESEN), the 2015-2029 PRODESEN, the 2016-2030 PRODESEN and the 2017-2031 PRODESEN. Additionally, it published the 2017 Smart Grid Program.
Universal Access to Energy. Creation and Implementation of FSUE In the matter of universal access to electricity, during Dr. Hernández tenure, the Ministry of Energy created and started the operation of the Universal Electricity Service Fund (FSUE) established in the Electricity Industry Law, chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Energy for Electricity, which financed electricity access for over 800,000 Mexicans not previously covered. The Ministry published the Policies and Strategies for the electrification of rural communities and marginalized urban areas (March 29, 2017), which contemplated two different alternatives for taking electricity service to Mexicans no previously attended: a) extending coverage of CFE's basic service to communities located at a distance 5 km or less from the electricity distribution grid, and b) installing off-grid systems. In implementation of the Policies and Strategies, the Universal Electricity Service Fund (FSUE), through CFE and FIDE, financed the extension of the distribution grid and the installation of off-grid electricity systems. By the end of 2017 CFE had extended service to 2,011 towns with 352,938 inhabitants not previously attended.See ASF, Evaluación Número 1589 de "Reforma Energética: Electricidad", México, ASF, febrero 2019, p. 162. https://www.asf.gob.mx/Trans/Informes/IR2017c/Documentos/Auditorias/2017_1589_a.pdf And FIDE, the government entity in charge of competitively assigning off-grid projects, reported that by the end of 2018, contracts had been assigned to 37 companies to develop off-grid projects in 1,596 towns, to provide electricity to 138,304 inhabitants not previously covered.See FIDE, Fideicomiso para el Ahorro de Energía Eléctrica. 2013-2018. Retos, logros y desafíos, México, FIDE, 2018, p. 129. http://www.fide.org.mx/wp-content/uploads/book/FIDE-RETOS-LOGROS-DESAFIOS-2013-2018-OPT.PDF
Resignation from the Ministry of Energy Dr. Hernández resigned from the Energy Ministry on November 23, 2017.
Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) On December 1, 2017, Dr. Hernández was appointed Head of the Unit for Planning, Institutional Relations and International Affairs (UPVAI) at the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE), Mexico's federal antitrust agency. UPVAI is the COFECE Unit in charge of, among other things, competition advocacy. During his ten-month tenure, COFECE published several competition advocacy studies, including "Rethinking competition in the Digital Economy" (March 1, 2018), "Transition to Competitive Markets in Energy: LP Gas" (June 18, 2018), "A Competition Agenda towards integrity in Public Procurement" (July 20, 2018), and prepared "Market Power and Social Welfare" (October 12, 2018). It organized, together with the Institute for Legal Research of UNAM, an International Seminar on Attorney-Client Privilege in Antitrust Investigations (May 30, 2018), and published a recommendation to the Ministry of Communications and Transport to eliminate the exclusivity exercised by Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA), a government owned enterprise, in the services for storage, commercialization and retail of fuels for aircraft at national airports.
Dr. Hernández left his position at COFECE on September 30, 2018, to become part of the Ministry of Economy transition team of President-elect López Obrador headed by future Secretary Graciela Márquez Colín; he was replaced by David Lamb de Valdés.
National Commission for Better Regulation (CONAMER)