More than 3 years later, community solar still not running

There are more questions than answers when it comes to how the rollout of community solar in New Mexico is going.

No community solar projects have broken ground, and no New Mexicans are yet signed up for the program. It’s caused a lack of information at a state level as to how well the program works.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission is in charge of adopting rules around community solar, like billing and timelines. The Community Solar Act, approved in 2021, required that the PRC report back to the Legislature three years later on progress.

Well, that deadline rolled around this month, and there’s still not much to report in terms of on-the-ground progress. Multiple delays in the yearslong setup process, due to miscommunications, supply chain issues and court battles, as well as a necessary $122 million in power grid upgrades have held up the projects.

The PRC sent a report to the Legislature earlier this month on the status of the community solar program. It outlined five recommendations to help the program move forward:

1. Create more sustainable and predictable funding for the program, like a legislative appropriation
2. Provide funding to the Health Care Authority to adopt a tool to enhance management of connecting low-income customers with solar farm operators
3. Give the PRC the authority to impose sanctions on utilities not meeting deadlines
4. Give the PRC jurisdictional authority over community solar developers and subscription managers
5. Explicitly allow the PRC the ability to order utilities to provide consolidated billing for program participants

“The program is still in the development stage, and yet, the commission feels that community solar is on a path towards success,” the report states.

Eleven out of 45 initially selected projects, or 22%, have signed interconnection agreements with the investor-owned utilities that are required to participate in the program by allowing energy transmission on their power lines.

Those power lines are part of a national antiquated power grid, and utilities need upgrades that range in cost from $280,000 to $13 million, according to the report, adding up to more than $122 million cumulatively. Additionally, getting the equipment and upgrades could extend timelines by one or two years.

“While this adds time to the process, it ensures that the projects will operate safely and efficiently in the long term and improve the overall capacity of New Mexico’s grid,” the report states.

The delays have made it difficult for solar farm operators to promote the program and meet an original Aug. 1 deadline to sign up a customer base comprised of at least 30% low-income customers. The PRC extended that deadline, instead making it 12 months after an operator signs a utility interconnection agreement or when commercial operations start, whichever is sooner.

The selected project operators promised to include a customer base comprised of 50% low-income participants or more, according to the legislative report, and most promise 20-25% or more in savings. The operators will also forgo upfront costs, early termination fees and credit checks for low-income communities.

Additionally, all projects committed to contract for materials, supplies or services with locally or minority-owned or operated businesses.

The PRC is expected to release a decision soon on utility-proposed solar bill credits, which will give solar farm operators more concrete billing information to provide to New Mexicans interested in participating in the program.