New Mexico HM 20: STUDY STATE-LEVEL PUBLIC UTILITY MODEL

Bill Text

underscored material = new[bracketed material
] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
HOUSE MEMORIAL 20
55TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2022
INTRODUCED BY
Andrea Romero and Angelica Rubio
A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IN CONJUNCTION
WITH THE PUBLIC REGULATION COMMISSION, TO CONDUCT AND OVERSEE A
STUDY TO DETERMINE THE PUBLIC, RATEPAYER, ENVIRONMENTAL AND
ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS AND THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF A
STATE-LEVEL PUBLIC UTILITY MODEL FOR NEW MEXICO.
WHEREAS, the transition to renewable energy sources for
New Mexico presents numerous opportunities to not only achieve
statewide one-hundred-percent renewable energy and storage
electricity needs at lower cost but also, through the provision
of renewable energy and storage on its grid, to explore the
possibility of exporting renewable energy and developing new
markets; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico has the second-highest solar capacity
and eleventh-highest wind capacity of any state in the nation
.221980.1

underscored material = new[bracketed material
] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
and has the ability to deliver terawatts of energy to western
states such as California and Arizona, which require a one-
hundred-percent clean energy supply by 2045; and
WHEREAS, the legislature established the New Mexico
renewable energy transmission authority in 2007 to facilitate
development of electric transmission and storage projects; and
WHEREAS, the New Mexico renewable energy transmission
authority found that:
A. New Mexico has the potential to develop one
hundred thirty-seven thousand megawatts of wind energy and
eight hundred twenty-four thousand megawatts of solar energy on
state trust and private lands;
B. the total investment in the development,
construction and operation of new renewables and transmission
ranges from nine billion three hundred million dollars
($9,300,000,000) to eleven billion two hundred million dollars
($11,200,000,000) through 2032; and
C. three thousand seven hundred development and
construction jobs will be created by 2032, with eight hundred
permanent jobs in the future; and
WHEREAS, in the 2021 regular legislative session, the New
Mexico legislature passed Senate Bill 112, which created the
sustainable economy task force and developed a plan to
transition the state's economy from over-dependence on
extractive industries; and
.221980.1
- 2 -

underscored material = new[bracketed material
] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
WHEREAS, a workforce solutions department study
overwhelmingly supports the diversification of the state's
economy and recommends procurement of as much of the state's
electricity from wind and solar energy as possible; and
WHEREAS, despite only ten percent of electricity in the
United States coming from public power facilities,
approximately forty percent of this electricity was generated
from non-carbon-emitting sources; and
WHEREAS, public power utilities generate more than sixty
billion dollars ($60,000,000,000) in annual revenue and invest
more than two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000) annually
directly back into their communities; and
WHEREAS, public power utilities invest this revenue back
into their communities through payments in lieu of taxes,
providing local jobs with great benefits, offering free or
reduced-cost electric services and supporting local causes and
charities;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislature
recognize the immediate need to build and invest in large-scale
renewable energy projects, the opportunity to become a leader
in the renewable energy market and that immediate participation
in this market may generate significant ongoing revenue for the
state; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislative
.221980.1
- 3 -

underscored material = new[bracketed material
] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
council be requested to cooperate with the New Mexico public
regulation commission to investigate, pursue discovery and
continue regulation to evaluate and determine if public power
ownership for New Mexico would result in a net public benefit;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislative
council, in conjunction with the public regulation commission,
conduct and oversee a study to determine the public, ratepayer,
environmental and economic benefits and costs and the technical
feasibility of a state-level public utility model for New
Mexico; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study be requested to
explore how best to deliver electricity to consumers in light
of the technological changes in electricity supply devoted to
the generation and delivery of renewable electricity; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public regulation
commission and other stakeholders be requested to report to the
leg