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Thursday, July 10, 2008
PNM, Other Utilities Meet Renewable Energy Level
By Sue Major Holmes
Associated Press
New Mexico's largest electric utility is being praised by an environmental group for being ahead in the renewable energy game.
The state Legislature last year began requiring that investor-owned utilities such as Public Service Company of New Mexico generate 20 percent of their total retail sales to New Mexico customers from renewable energy resources by 2020. The standard will gradually rise to that level from a current base of 6 percent.
New Mexico uses a system of credits to ensure compliance with what it calls the Renewable Portfolio Standard — how much energy comes from renewable sources.
Robert Ukeiley, climate and energy director for WildEarth Guardians, praised PNM for the number of renewable energy credits it has for meeting the standard.
PNM met the standard last year by purchasing renewable energy certificates and by retiring certificates held from previous years. Such credits can be obtained, for example, from other utilities or independent energy generators.
Renewable energy certificates, called RECs, are a way to measure and track renewable energy — each kilowatt from renewable sources such as wind or solar is worth one certificate, said PNM spokeswoman Cathy Garber.
New Mexico wants renewable energy generated in the state when possible.
"Right now we are definitely trying to encourage the development of the renewable resources themselves in New Mexico," said Roy Stephenson, director of the utility division staff of the state Public Regulation Commission.
Ukeiley said it's relatively easy to generate renewable energy in New Mexico, and he doesn't believe the state's standard is aggressive enough given the great potential for wind and solar in New Mexico.
"They're (PNM) doing a good job," Ukeiley said. "We (New Mexico) could be doing better."
The state should do more to tap the potential of the sun and the wind, particularly with the increase in the cost of energy generated by oil and gas and because of the effects of climate change, WildEarth Guardians said.
PNM's renewable energy came from the New Mexico Wind Energy Center near Santa Rosa, from photovoltaic systems owned by customers and from two small photovoltaic facilities at Algodones and the roof of PNM's Aztec facility, Garber said.
PNM is one of three investor-owned utilities that must meet the renewable energy limit. PRC figures show the other two — Southwestern Public Service, a division of Xcel Energy, and El Paso Electric Co. — also meet the standards.
New Mexico's 19 rural electric cooperatives won't fall under the renewable energy requirement until 2015, although some are complying voluntarily, Stephenson said. In 2015, cooperatives will be required to get 5 percent of their electricity from renewable sources; that goes to 10 percent in 2020.
Most cooperatives purchase all of their electricity from a single source, leaving them with less flexibility than a large utility has, Stephenson said.
PNM plans to use the same wind and solar sources to meet the 6 percent requirement this year and next year. The requirement for utilities rises to 10 percent in 2011 and 15 percent in 2015 before ultimately going to 20 percent.
PNM has two programs promoting renewable energy to customers — the Sky Blue wind energy program and a customer-owned solar panel program.
Sky Blue began in 2003, years before the state's mandate. Customers who sign up voluntarily pay extra for wind-generated electricity.
Under the solar program, residential customers who install photovoltaic systems of 10 kilowatts or less connect to PNM's system. Any excess energy produced by the home goes into PNM's electric grid and comes off the customer's bill. Some 187 customers signed up for the photovoltaic or PV program by the end of 2007, Garber said.
The utility currently is seeking PRC approval for a large PV purchase program. That would let PNM buy RECs from customer-owned photovoltaic facilities of 10 kilowatts to one megawatt.
In addition, PNM, El Paso Electric, Xcel and the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association last month called for proposals to develop a New Mexico solar generation facility that would produce enough electricity for 29,000 to 52,000 average New Mexico homes.
On Tuesday, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens said he will fund an ad campaign to focus national attention on U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Pickens — who last year announced plans to build the world's largest wind farm in Texas by 2014 — is calling for private investment in electrical generation from renewable energy resources and for using the nation's abundant natural gas to replace some imported gasoline and diesel.
Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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