Leopoldo Vicente Melchi García repeats as President Commissioner of the CRE

January 2023 | printable version

Executive Summary:

• Leopoldo Vicente Melchi García was appointed as President Commissioner of the CRE for the second time, having previously held this same position from 2019 to December 31, 2022.
• Leopoldo Vicente Melchi García will serve a seven-year term, ending on December 31, 2029.
• It can be expected that the government will continue to pursue the current administration's energy policy, strengthening state-owned productive companies to the detriment of private participation in the energy sector. 

As Santamarina + Steta anticipated in the Update “Shortlist for the appointment of the President Commissioner of the Energy Regulatory Commission”, published on January 10, 2023, on January 18, 2023, the Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union approved the appointment of Leopoldo Vicente Melchi García as President Commissioner of the Energy Regulatory Commission (“CRE”) with 35 votes in favor and two abstentions. Leopoldo Vicente Melchi García will serve as President Commissioner for a period of seven years, so his term will end on December 31, 2029.

Leopoldo Vicente Melchi was the winner from among the three candidates that the Federal Executive presented to the Senate on January 4, 2023. The other two candidates were Alfonso López Alvarado and Victor David Palacios Gutiérrez.

Leopoldo Vicente Melchi García is a Chemical Engineer from the Universidad Veracruzana, with diplomas in Administration from the Pan-American Institute of Senior Business Management, in Environmental Policy Instruments and Environmental Protection from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, and in Efficient Use of Water and Quality Control from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma Metropolitana. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoHe served as President Commissioner of the CRE since 2019 and concluded his first assignment on December 31, 2022. During his first assignment as President Commissioner of the CRE, Melchi worked closely with SENER, and the process of issuing new permits to private participants in the oil and electricity sectors was paused.

Leopoldo Vicente Melchi García can be expected to continue the current administration's public energy policy, strengthening state-owned productive companies to the detriment of private participation in the energy sector. 

It is worth noting that the CRE has an additional vacancy for a Commissioner position, since Luis Guillermo Pineda Bernal ended his term on December 31, 2022.