Clean Energy: A Priority for Richardson Administration
New Mexico is blessed with enormous energy resources from both fossil fuel and renewable sources. To date, the state has taken advantage of vast oil, natural gas, and coal reserves which has both stimulated New Mexico’s economy and significantly contributed to state government’s annual revenue. In spite of ranking second in the nation in solar energy resources and twelfth in wind energy potential, little to date has been done to capitalize on the state’s clean, renewable resources.
That is all about to change.
During his campaign, Governor Richardson pledged to establish New Mexico as a national leader in clean energy – both renewable energy and energy efficiency. We’ve got a long way to go, but the foundation is being established for getting us there. The following is an overview of the Governor’s clean energy agenda and some of the projects and program development under way to make that agenda a reality.
10% of Electricity from Renewables by 2010
New Mexico currently obtains less than ½ of 1% of its electricity from renewable sources. This percentage will increase significantly when PNM’s 204 megawatt (mw) wind farm comes on line later this summer. Located near Ft. Sumner, over 130 wind turbines are being constructed, each over 200 feet in height. The wind farm will be one of the largest in the country. If you’re a PNM customer, you’ll have an opportunity to choose “green energy” as your power source.
Getting to the 10% goal, however, will require many more projects to be constructed, wind and otherwise, within the next seven years. In fact, one of the Governor’s goals is to make the state in the top three of wind producing states. While wind energy is becoming, on its own, cost-competitive with fossil-fuel based electricity, New Mexico has established innovative tax incentives to help further stimulate renewable power development. A New Mexico “production tax credit” (PTC), offers a one cent per kilowatt hour tax break for electricity produced from renewables. This past legislative session, the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) and Economic Development Department worked jointly to expand the PTC to include biomass projects and increase the total amount of funds dedicated to the tax credit from $8 million to $20 million per year. New Mexico is one of only two states to have enacted a PTC. Adding biomass to the law was significant. Biomass includes any organic material but the emphasis is on utilizing forest material not large enough to be commercially viable and dairy wastes. With appropriate air quality and environmental controls, electricity production from biomass offers the opportunity to utilize material previously treated as “waste” and stimulate rural economic development.
It’s impossible to develop a viable wind project if you don’t know where the wind blows! EMNRD recently completed a detailed “investment grade” wind map for the state. Note on the map the majority of the “good wind” is on the eastern plains, but even then it’s fairly site specific. The presence and frequency of consistently strong winds can vary dramatically, in short distances, with topography. This new map will assist wind developers with identifying favorable project sites, and, importantly, help them get financing by demonstrating that their “source” can deliver. Many of us complain about the annoying winds in New Mexico (particularly us contact wearers); we might as well take advantage of it!
Solar is also on the horizon (so to speak). Legislation is being considered to provide a tax credit for small-scale residential and commercial solar installations – primarily photovoltaics and solar water heating. This would act to help to stimulate New Mexico’s solar industry. On a larger scale, a technology known as “concentrating solar power” (CSP) is being pursued. CSP electric power is currently more expensive than wind power, but costs are expected to come down (as they did for wind) as more projects are developed.
State Government “Lead by Example”
The Governor is committed to making state government “walk its talk” with respect to incorporating clean energy measures into all aspects of its operations and new building construction. It’s hard to have credibility championing the clean energy message without getting our own house in order.
The Governor is expected to issue an executive order this summer, directing state government to pursue a host of clean energy strategies including: 1) reducing fuel usage by promoting carpooling for intercity travel and utilizing the more fuel efficient vehicles for on-road travel 2) purchasing only alternative-fueled or fuel efficient vehicles, unless the intended use justifies otherwise 3) retrofitting existing state buildings with energy efficient lighting and heating/cooling controls 4) purchase only energy efficient appliances, fixtures, and equipment, and 5) construct new buildings and facilities that meet aggressive energy efficient standards. With respect to new construction, the longer term goal is “green building” – energy and water efficiency, passive natural lighting, non-toxic building materials, etc. While green building construction is slightly more expensive at the “front end”, the long term energy savings yields a lower life-cycle cost than traditional construction.
A tangential but important benefit of this effort is reduced operating costs. The energy and transportation-related measures to be implemented will offer impressive electric utility and fuel cost savings. The taxpayer and the environment come out ahead!
Promote Energy Efficiency
In the early months of the administration, the focus has been on renewables – adopting measures, legislation, whatever is necessary to reach the 10% goal. More recently, however, energy efficiency is being emphasized as an important complement to renewables. The Southwest Energy Efficiency Project issued a report last year indicating that New Mexico energy usage could be reduced by over 30% by adopting aggressive, but reasonable, energy efficiency measures. The study concluded that not only would the environment benefit (less air emissions and water demands from electric power production, less energy resource extraction, etc.) but that citizens and businesses would benefit as well. Keeping more of consumers’ energy dollar in their pockets can stimulate the economy by increasing discretionary spending.
While a comprehensive energy efficiency program is still in the planning stage, some areas being considered are: 1) adopting state-of-the-art energy efficient building standards 2) tax credits for purchasing “Energy Star” and other energy efficient appliances and for energy efficient construction and 3) expanding the residential weatherization program and 4) working with the Public Regulation Commission and utilities to establish utility-based efficiency programs. With home heating costs expected to be extremely high next winter due to natural gas prices, energy efficiency makes sense now more than ever.
Link Clean Energy with Economic Development
For too long, many have believed the myth that preserving environmental quality and promoting a strong economy are at odds with one another. Renewable energy and energy efficiency offer the opportunity to help debunk that myth. Governor Richardson has emphasized the important role clean energy can play in stimulating the state’s economy. That’s why the Economic Development Department in concert with EMNRD is aggressively involved with renewable energy development.
Wind projects, for example, stimulate economic development in rural areas both by creating construction jobs and by providing wind turbine lease payments to the property owners. At anywhere from $2,000-4000 in lease payments per wind turbine per year, I wouldn’t mind allowing a few wind turbines on my land! (Unfortunately, I don’t think City of Santa Fe zoning codes would let me get away with it.). Long term drought projections will challenge the ranching and farming-based economies of eastern New Mexico. Wind farms, and possibly in the future concentrating solar power plants, offer the opportunity to diversify and, therefore, stabilize the economies of rural New Mexico.
A Long Way to Go…
Compared with a host of other states, New Mexico hasn’t exactly been a leader in clean energy. We’ve got a long way to go and much needs to be done to realize the Governor’s vision of New Mexico “rising to the top” in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our department is currently involved with identifying the critical components of a clean energy plan, securing reliable funding sources to stimulate clean energy development, and educating policy-makers and legislators to make it all happen.
We will continue to rely on New Mexico’s fossil fuel-derived resources for some time to come. In addition to the global warming and air quality concerns associated with those sources, they are, of course, finite and ultimately will be depleted. Now is the time to start making the transition to an energy supply portfolio that takes advantage of New Mexico’s clean, renewable resources.
We didn’t move beyond the Stone Age because we ran out of stones. We’re not going to move beyond the Fossil Fuel Age because we’ve run out of fossil fuels but because we’ve developed a better, cleaner technology to meet our needs. (modified from Fritjof Capra, physicist/philosopher)
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