Mexico

Getting Electricity in

Mexico

Below is a detailed summary of the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building in Mexico.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare Mexico to 185 other economies.

  • Standardized Company

  • Name of Utility: CFE
  • City: Mexico City

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 The customer submits a request for a feasibility study (Technical Evaluation) to one of the offices of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

The client request a feasibility study to the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). The energy demand and a sketch of the localization of the warehouse are requested by the CFE.



Agency: Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) 		10 calendar days no charge
2 The customer hires an electrical contractor who designs the connection, submits the plans to the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) and awaits approval.

Once the feasibility of the project has been confirmed by Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the clients electrical contractor obtains the design specifications from CFE, prepares the design of the electrical works needed to carry out the connection on the basis of these specifications and awaits approval of the plans from CFE.
Agency: Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) 		26 calendar days no charge
* 3 The Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) carries out a technical inspection in order to approve the design of the connection

This external inspection is necessary to validate the design of the connection works.
Agency: Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) 		1 calendar day no charge
4 The customer obtains a permit for the external connection works at the Municipality

The customer or the electrical contractor obtains the authorization from the municipality to carry out the connection works in public land.
Agency: Municipality 		30 calendar days no charge
5 The private electrical company hired to do the design carries out the external connection works according to the approved design.

The installation of the transformer substation and the external connection works are the responsibility of the customer, who can choose to hire a private contractor to do the works.
Agency: Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) 		20 calendar days MXN 441,500.0
* 6 The customer must obtain approval of his internal wiring installations from a specialized firm.

The monitoring of the internal wiring installations is done by a specialized firm (Unidad de Verificación de Instalaciones Eléctricas ) which is responsible for checking that the wiring was done according to Mexican standards.

The applicant must go to a Unidad de Verificación de Instalaciones Eléctricas (UVIE), accredited with the Entidad Mexicana de Acreditamiento (EMA) and registered with the Ministry of Energy (Secretaria de Energia). The firm will verify that the electrical installation meets the safety standards established in NOM 001-SEDE; the UVIE also oversees the external work that is performed by the client (construction of the electrical substation).

A certificate issued at the end of the inspection is needed by the time the supply contract is signed. This procedure may be performed simultaneously with other procedures. The costs associated with this procedure are determined by the Unidad Verificadora and the applicant. If the wiring is done within the provisions of the Mexican Standards, usually one inspection is sufficient to issue the approval (Dictamen de Verificación), but if the applicant did not perform its electrical work within the rules, then the Unidad Verificadora must make several visits to ensure that the wiring corresponds to the standards. Link.
Agency: Empresa privada 		2 calendar days MXN 25,000.0
7 The customer signs the supply contract, pays a security deposit and awaits the installation of the meter by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

At the signing of the contract for providing electrical service connection the certificate of verification for the internal wiring installation must be submitted. The process of signing the supply contract is done after the security deposit has been paid for. Payment is made at the offices of the company. It is possible to settle the security deposit with a bank guarantee.
The meter installation is done by the Área comercial which coordinates with the Departamento de Distribuccion.

Agency: Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) 		9 calendar days MXN 5,600.0
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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