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Friday, July 09, 2010
PNM Wants Public Help With Energy Plan
By Susan Montoya Bryan
Associated Press
It's simple. When the switch is flicked, customers of New Mexico's largest public utility want the lights to go on. Anything less would be unacceptable.
Officials with Public Service Company of New Mexico acknowledge that many people don't give much thought to how that electricity is produced or how it finds its way across the state and into nearly a half-million homes and businesses. But now, they want people to start thinking about it and helping them plan for the next two decades.
PNM is embarking on a yearlong process to determine the best mix of energy sources for meeting the needs of its customers through 2030. Public meetings have already been held in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho and Los Lunas, and more will follow.
"We're trying a different approach," Cindy Bothwell, PNM's manager of integrated resource planning, said after Thursday night's meeting in Albuquerque. "We do care what these people think and we'd rather be proactive in getting information than issuing a plan that everybody objects to and doesn't think they've had input into."
Aside from 11 public meetings this summer, PNM is asking for volunteers to serve on a working group that will meet monthly starting in September to help formulate its so-called integrated resource plan.
Like New Mexico's other investor-own utilities, PNM is required to revisit its long-term energy plan every few years to update it. This is the first time PNM is casting such a wide net to see how its customers feel about everything from reliability to renewable energy, electric rates and greenhouse gases.
PNM wants to know if it should change the amount of energy it gets from renewable, nuclear and coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. It also wants to know how much customers are willing to pay for a different combination of power sources and what role efficiency programs should play in the state's energy future.
"We're talking about all of these little puzzle pieces and none of them is the 100 percent answer," Bothwell said. "We're working on putting all of these pieces together."
About four dozen people turned out Thursday night in Albuquerque to weigh in.
The moderator tried to gauge what was most important to the group by sparking a conversation about the trade-offs.
The hands shot up when asked if reliability — turning on that switch and getting power at any given moment of the day — was more important that electric rates.
It was more of a draw when it came to rates and the use of water for electricity generation in this arid state.
PNM spokesman Don Brown said the utility is convinced it will benefit from having its customers debate their own energy future.
"The plan that we submit to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission next summer will be a stronger product if it reflects a diversity of opinions," he said.
Ron Herman of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association said the problem is finding a balance between customer rates, reliability and environmental concerns and the opinion of customers may not matter.
"I'm just concerned that input from the people may not be all that productive because the decisions are going to be made by PNM at the corporate level and by the PRC," he said. "Their choices are difficult."
PNM officials said the priorities that are set through the public meetings and the working group will help guide the utility as it makes decisions about the energy plan.
"We understand that there's going to be a number of critical questions that need to be answered," Tom Sategna, a PNM vice president, said at the Albuquerque meeting. "We really do want you to help us."
PNM serves nearly 500,000 residential and business customers. Its electricity is generated by various sources, including coal, natural gas, wind and nuclear.
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