César is a leading figure in the mexican public sector in energy and regulation. As Undersecretary of Electricity at the Secretaría de Energía (2014–2017), he coordinated the most profound reform of the electricity sector since 1938: the creation of the wholesale electricity market, the independent system operator, the structural separation of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), and the first clean energy auctions, which achieved the lowest solar and wind energy prices in the world in 2016 and 2017.

​

He served as Comisionado Nacional de Mejora Regulatoria (CONAMER) and Director General of Foreign Trade at the Secretaría de Economía. He was secretary of the boards of directors of the CFE and Pemex. He has been a consultant for the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank Group, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He is the author of books and studies on energy, foreign trade, and regulation.